Another Grom
by It's-A-Passion
Summary: Nereida, a quiet, unassuming girl and surfing enthusiast comes to work at Surfer's Paradise with the rest of the groms. Never in a million years could she have guessed at the trouble, mischief and fun she would have, making new, true friends and falling in love. It's a summer she never wants to end. Ty x OC. Generally follows the episodes.
1. Chapter 1

About bloody time. The horrid excuse for a bus finally reached my destination. The 30 minutes it took to get to the resort really only should have taken 15 minutes. It was like the bus only has two different speeds; slow and slower. The bus driver, Kahuna, is cool though – I don't have anything against him, just his stupid bus. Which, incidentally, is shaped like a whale.

Summer is finally here. And, lucky me, I bagged myself a job at a hotel right next to the water. I can surf whenever I want. I was so excited about this job, my first job, I had been packed for weeks just waiting for summer to arrive. And now that I was here, I couldn't wait to get started.

I had wanted a job for so long, so I didn't have to ask dad for money every time I needed something. That, of course didn't stop him from transferring more money onto my bank card before I left. I wanted the independence to do this myself, to prove I wasn't just a rich girl whose daddy gave her anything she wanted. But he was making that increasingly difficult.

This job was perfect for me, namely, because it was right next to the beach. Surfing was a passion of my life, something I was good at, something I did well, like all passions. And having the beach situated right next to the resort I would be working at was amazing, to say the least.

"Here you go little lady," Kahuna said, pulling me out of my reverie of carvin' it up on the waves and having what could absolutely be the best summer of my life.

Grabbing my bags and board, I made a beeline for the bus door. "Thanks," I smile at Kahuna.

"Anytime you need a lift to the town you just let me know."

"Thanks," I said again, getting off the whale bus and heading towards the beach first. I still had time before I needed to be anywhere. I breathed in the refreshing salty breeze and let the sound off waves crashing fill my ears. The taste of salt fills my mouth and I feel so completely relaxed, so at home. I glance at my watch briefly – 11:20. I had just enough time grab a quick sesh before signing in for work.

I took of my shoes and walked further down the beach, feeling the warmth of the sand beneath my feet. I dumped my bags and took of my purple hoodie shirt and jean shorts to reveal the purple bikini I almost always wore. Grabbing my purple (noticing a theme here?) surfboard with a white amaryllis on it, I ran out into the water, the cool water a stark contrast to the warm sand. The water gave me strength and I felt invigorated. I dished out my some of my best tricks and felt free. Surfing always made me feel free.

All too soon I had to get out of the water though and the absence of the water against my skin was depressing. I grabbed a towel out of my shoulder bag and quickly tried off before throwing my clothes back on. I checked my phone and saw I had one message;

Darling,

Have a good time.

If you need anything, give me a call.

Love Dad.

I rolled my eyes and grabbed my Ipod, shoving the buds into my ears. Bon Jovi's _No Apologies _sounded through. I threw my towel over my shoulder and grabbed my bags and board, walking towards the resort. As I came closer, I noticed that the resort was a mess. I thought it was a five star resort. It was absolutely trashed! I walked through the automatic doors and ran smack bang into a bare chest of lean muscle.

"Oof," I gasped, stumbling back.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't see you there," A boy reached out a steadying hand. I looked up and I would never admit it, but I melted. He was tanned, tall, well-formed and charmingly handsome. His eyes were a clear blue that instantly reminded me of the ocean; so clear and sparkling. As cliché as it was, I could drown in those eyes. He smiled and my eyes shifted to his mouth. Oh, good God, his unfairly perfect mouth. And he even had an amazing smile. Bloody hell! I was in love.

"Uh, no, that's okay. It was my fault, I wasn't paying attention," I said, pulling my earphones out.

"So, we're both to blame?" His voice was deep and smooth, not a hint of the squeaky awkwardness that signified a recent change in his voice.

"I guess so," I said, smiling.

He looked down at my surfboard and smiled. "You surf?"

"Whenever I can, which isn't enough as far as I'm concerned. But that's going to change with this job."

He nodded in recognition. "Are you a part of the new summer staff?" he asked good naturedly.

"Uh, yeah, I am," I glanced at my watch. _Oh shit._ "And I was supposed to sign in exactly one minute and twenty-three seconds ago."

"Sorry to hold you up."

"No, it's not your fault." He stepped to the side to let me pass. "Thanks," I flashed a grin at him.

"No problem. Oh, hey, I'm Ty, by the way."

"And I'm late, so I'll see'ya around Ty," I grinned mischievously at him. I walked quickly to the front desk, stopping behind a girl with straight brown hair and a pink t-shirt and a guy with brown hair and a black shirt. They were both carrying a bag, but the guy was also carrying a surfboard as well. I had just enough time to grimace at the tackiness of the hotel before the guy behind the front desk started speaking.

"Welcome to Surfer's Paradise. We are surfing." He said, his tone conveyed how much he really didn't want to say that.

I raised my eyebrow at him, "We are surfing?" I asked him slowly, my incredulousness so obvious to my own ears.

"Yeah, we are surfing, I have to say that." He said in distaste.

"Wow," I sympathized.

"We're the new summer staff," the girl said.

I nodded and stepped closer to the girl, "Yeah, that includes me too."

"I'm emma," the girl said just as another girl walked up. She had short bleach-blonde hair and was wearing a green tank top.

"Hey, I'm Fin and that's reef."

"And, I'm Nereida-Lynn, but you can just call me Nereida."

Emma turned to me, "Nereida? That's a cool name."

"Yeah, Nereida, as in the sea nymph," I explained.

**(A/N it's pronounced ne-RAY-duh)**

"Oh, cool," she said.

"Wait, wait, wait. Nereida-Lynn, as in Nereida-Lynn Chase? The Nereida-Lynn Chase that was ranked #2 in the _world_," Fin asked suddenly.

I bit my lip in embarrassment. "Yep, that would be me."

"Holy Moly, that 360 aerial you landed was totally bad-ass!" She exclaimed.

I smiled at her, "Thanks."

"No problem." We turned back to see that the front desk guy was talking again.

"…I'm Johnny, I work the front desk, concierge, so what do you think?" he asked.

"Umm, well, it's a little different than I thought it would be," Emma said, politely saying that it sucks. It's like a nightmare.

"Yea, it stinks, it's all fake," Fin said harshly.

"Really fake," I said, staring at one of the hideous purple whales.

"Ohhhh, you must have seen last year's brochure, yeah, last fall corporate decided to make all the hotel's 'theme' hotels," Johnny said. "And voila! Every true surfer's worst nightmare." Suddenly, his attention shifted to something else. "Dude, what did I tell you about taking sink showers in the Lobby bathroom?"

I turned to see another guy walking towards us, dripping wet. He shook his afro and water went everywhere.

"Uhhh, don't?"

"Right, so what are you doing here anyway?" Johnny asked.

"Uhh, I'm the new bellhop man," he said.

"Jump back, you're working here now?" Johnny asked in disbelief. "What happened to the Surf Shack?"

"Needed a change of scenery," he said, jumping back and relaxing onto the chair. "Sick party last night."

"Who threw this shindig man?" Reef asked.

"The owner's daughter, Lo," Johnny rolled his eyes.

"If her dad finds out, it's tickets dude." The guy added.

A man walked over, a phone pressed to his ear. He was wearing what looked like the staff shirt. "Right, yes, golf carts need repainting, chairs repaired and the pool needs cleaning. Absolutely no problem," He said, hanging up the phone. He threw his hands up in the air, "If I had a week," he shouted angrily.

Johnny coughed, "Uh, Sir, this is Mr and Mrs Marvin."

The man automatically shifted back into manager mode, "What a charming family," He laughed. "I understand the party last night may have been a little loud, why don't I take 20% off your total bill?"

"Make it thirty," the father said.

"Done, and just to show you how much we value your patronage, I'm going to throw in free surf lessons for the whole family."

"You hear that kids," the man turned to his children. "Who want's to go surfing?"

"We hate surfing," one of the boys said.

"We want souvenirs," the other said. Spoilt brats.

"You are a lucky man, Mr Marvin. Please, enjoy the hotel."

"What a bunch of kooks," Fin said and I nodded agreement.

"What's a kook?" Emma asked.

"Like a tourist, or a wannabe," I explained.

"Welcome," The man walked over to us. "Hi, just checking in I see, excellent. I'm Andrew Baumer, day manager at the hotel. If there's anything I can do to make your stay more comfortable, you just let me know. A little sparkling water perhaps?" He asked.

"A cold can of pop would be pretty sweet right about now, thanks man," Reef said.

Johnny coughed again to get his attention, "Uh, Sir, they're not guests."

"We're the new summer staff," Fin said.

"Waaasss up?" the guy on the lounge chair said.

"Then why are you standing in the Lobby? Why are they standing in the Lobby?" He asked Johnny. He pointed to the guy on the chair, "And you, get off the couch, we just had those cleaned."

The guy who now had a sandwich in his hand, shoved it back into his hair. "Cool, bro, it's cool."

"We just got here. I'm Emma," Emma explained.

"Yeah, yeah, no time for introductions. Now follow me, you too, I need all the help I can get." He said to Johnny and he started to walk off.

"Yes, sir," Johnny said. Bummer, as I nicknamed him, led us down a corridor and opened a door where a girl was leaning against it.

"You can leave your bags here," he said. He walked to the girl and grabbed the mop that was leaning against the wall next to her. "You got time to lean, you got time to clean, come on!" The girl ignored him and the mop dropped to the floor as he stalked past her.

"Maybe we're getting a tour," Emma said excitedly.

"Sick parties, awesome surfing, I love this place." Reef yelled. We dumped our bags and took off after Bummer who led us outside to the pool and told us to start cleaning it.

About two minutes in, Reef was severely disappointed. "Okay, not loving it so much anymore," he said.

"Dude this bites," said the other guy, who's name I quickly found out to be Broseph.

"Pssh, that's resort life for ya," Johnny stated.

"What'da'ya mean?" Fin asked.

"Well, usually we get the afternoon off to surf, but then some kid had a diaper malfunction in the pool and Bam! We're on scrubbing duty."

Bummer returned then, calling for attention. "Okay, people, listen up. Do I need to remind you what will happen if Mr. Ridgemount returns and sees this? My career, finished, which means all of you will be fired. Comprende vou?" He asked. We just nodded. "Okay, kids here's a list of things we need done by this afternoon, tick tock people," he said, ripping off a piece of paper and letting it flutter towards us. Johnny tried and failed to catch it.

"Do you know how to get ketchup out of carpeting?" a girls voice called from a balcony.

Bummer's shoulder slumped, "I hate my life."

Emma turned to us, "So where are you guys working? I'm in the dining room."

I nodded at her, "Me too."

"DR, nice, decent tip potential," Johnny said.

"You are looking at the head of water sports and surf instruction," Reef said, pointing to himself.

"What!" Fin exclaimed, "That's my job."

"Uh, is your name Reef?"

"No."

"Then it's not your job. I got this in the mail last week," he said, unfolding a letter which Fin promptly snatched out of his hands.

"Okay, there has to be some kind of mistake, they said it was practically guaranteed!"

She passed the letter to Johnny, who looked at it, "Looks legit, they do this all the time, move staff around, you'll get used to it."

"That is so unfair! What am I supposed to do?"

"Well, let me check," he pulled out a walkie talkie. "Hey boss, just checking in on an employee posting for Fin McCloud." We waited a moment until a voice came back over the communication device.

"Yeah, hold on, Fin McCloud, yeah, that's housekeeping."

"A maid!" she yelled. "Oh no, uh-uh, okay, I don't even clean my own room."

"Wait, maybe it won't be that bad," Emma said.

"Cheer up," Reef called. "I'll even give you free surf lessons."

"Do you know who I am?" she asked.

"Uh, yeah, you're the new maid." He said like it was obvious.

"I'm the three time junior international champion. I'm ranked number 56 in the world."

"Yeah, in the girls category."

"Oh no he didn't!" Johnny said.

How dare he! How _dare he_! Who the bloody hell does he think he is. Gasps were emitted.

"What did you just say?" I said in a deadly tone.

"Well, I won't be surfing the girls category at Grom fest this year, so if you're man enough to enter, then I'll be happy to show you just how much butt a girl can kick." Fin yelled.

"Bring it on, Betty," Reef said.

"Oh, I will, and don't call me a betty, you kook."

"Okay, okay, I think we're done here," Johnny said, trying to diffuse the tension. "Come on, we have new deck chairs to put together."

"What happened to the old ones?" Emma asked.

"They had a huge bon fire on the beach last night and ran out of fire wood."

"Those were some tasty weenies," Broseph recalled.

"Darn it! Why couldn't we arrive yesterday? I love weenies," Reef whined.

Fin just rolled her eyes, "Ugh! Such a kook!" I laughed and just followed behind, glaring at Reef.

* * *

><p><strong>And, i'll cut it off just there.<strong>

**Thanks for reading!**

**What did you think?**


	2. Chapter 2

I watched the surfer carve it up on the crystal-blue waves and I desperately wanted to be out there too. It was like the water was calling to me and boy did I want to answer it. The water is my second home, an environment I'm comfortable in, and surfing is my freedom. It was almost painful to be this close to the water and know that I couldn't go in. Instead, we got to build the new chairs. _Yay! _I thought sarcastically. The sun beat down on us, announcing loud and clear that it was definitely summer.

"Wow, that was so amazing," Emma said in awe as she watched the surfer. "He ripped one off."

I exploded in laughter and Fin grinned. "I think you mean ripped it up," She said.

Emma giggled, "Uh, yeah, that."

Johnny and Reef were fiddling around at the back of the chair, screwing the legs in and what not. Emma, Fin and I sat there and watched the waves, not offering any assistance. My eyes followed the surfer as he moved off to the right and I saw Broseph come running along and jumping onto our chair. He looked so relaxed and laid-back. But then the legs of the chair fell off and Broseph fell to the ground. I laughed as Johnny glared at him and shook my head as he offered Johnny a sandwich he pulled from his hair.

Johnny grabbed the list Bummer had left us from his pocket and directed us to the golf course. The next couple hours passed in a blur. Not much was said as we quickly moved about, checking each job off the list. Throughout the whole time, Broseph was absolutely no help, preferring to play golf instead of patching the grass. It was kind of funny when he gave a guy a massive bruise on his head though. Patching up the grass on the golf course led us to cleaning the golf buggies, which was interesting because it started a mini water fight between Reef and Fin. It seemed to me the beginning of a cats-and-dogs relationship. As the day wore on, all I wanted was a chance to get in the water.

Finally, finally, with the last job completed, Johnny led us back to the room where we left our bags. Grabbing our stuff, he led us to where we would be staying – the staff house. The closer we got to it though, the further I wanted to get away. It was decrepit, it should be declared a hazard, heck, it should be pulled down. Dilapidated, crumbling, decaying, rotting. It was a three story wooden building, that, if rebuilt so it wasn't a hazardous dump, would be quite nice.

"Here it is," Johnny said.

"Here's what?" Fin said incredulously. We all knew where this was going. Except maybe Reef, but I got the feeling that he was a bit clueless anyway.

"Home sweet home for the summer," He said, walking to the front steps.

I winced in distaste, "Oh, no."

"Really?" Emma said. "This is it?"

And then Fin voiced what I'm sure we were all thinking. "It's kind of a dump."

"Hey, a TV on the porch. Cool!" Reef exclaimed and I looked at him in a you've-got-to-be-kidding way.

"And couches, sweet," Broseph added.

Fin's shoulder slumped and she sighed. "Don't worry," I said to her. "The intelligent half of the species shares your distaste."

She grinned at me and pointed to a trail directly behind us, "At least it has beach access."

I looked where she was pointing and was surprised I didn't see it earlier. The trail was straight and no more than twelve meters long. I could hear the waves crashing and the sea gulls from here. The air was even salty and fresh. I breathed in deeply. "Then I think I can put up with it," I told her, walking up the front steps to the porch. There were two guys sitting on a couch, playing a video game.

The one with blue hair, which was pretty cool, said, "Ah, yeah, you're ripping now mate, in fact, so am I." his Australian accent was thick in his voice. My face scrunched up in horror as he lifted his leg and let out a long fart. The other guy, with very short brown hair laughed. He farted again and he still continued to laugh, throwing the controller away and clutching his stomach.

Broseph walked over to them and asked, "No-pants, what's happenin'" before relaxing onto the other sofa.

"Sup guys," the guy with the blue hair said.

Johnny walked over, pointing to the guy with brown hair, "This is no-pants-Lance and," He sniffed the air and a grossed-out look appeared on his face. "Ripper. They are returning staff," H e said as he waved his hand in front of his nose.

"Which means we're like Gods around here and should be treated as such," Ripper said. I snorted derisively. Yeah, right.

"Don't listen to him guys, he's just full of hot air," No-pants-Lance said. Hot air's right.

"The fire rate before Labour day is 42%, so one of you's not going the distance," Ripper told us.

Fin and I both looked at Reef. "My money's on him," She said.

"Hey! Why me?" Reef cried indignantly.

Fin pretended to think about that, "I'm not sure; you just have that going-to-get-fired look about you."

"Well maybe that's because you got that I'm-jealous-that-you've-got-the-awesomest-job-here look about you," He retorted.

"Oooohhh, good comeback," She taunted.

"Okay," Johnny intervened. "Girls dorms upstairs, Fin, Nereida you're in room 202, Emma, 203. Guys Mi casa es su casa." Broseph and Reef just looked at him blankly and I felt sorry for Johnny. "You're rooming with me," He elaborated.

"Sweet," Reef called and Broseph said, "Ohh cool," As they walked to the steps.

"Watch the third step, it's kinda-"

Reef stepped onto it and his foot went right through, splintering the wood. "Busted." That got a few laughs.

We walked up the stairs and loud thumping music was heard. It reverberated throughout the house and I felt the stirrings of a headache. Fin and I reached room 202 and I pushed the door open, walking in. I winced as I saw cockroaches scuttling away. The room was exactly the same as the outside of the house – dilapidated. The paint on the walls was peeling and there was a dank odour. There were four beds; three with the heads pushed against one side of the wall and a fourth situated underneath a window, the side of it pushed against the wall. I made a beeline for that one, hoping that having the window open would help me survive. I dumped my bags on the bed and watched dust rise off it in a puff. Great. I lightly touched the curtain material and watched it disintegrate at my touch. Another sigh left my lips.

I turned to see Fin dumping her bags on the bed furthest from the door, a puff of dust also rising from her bed. I sat down and watched more cockroaches scuttle away as she walked.

She let out a breath. "Okay, it's okay. I'm not here for the job or the room; I'm here for the waves."

I decided to adopt that mentality until I felt something tickle me leg. I looked down to see a cockroach crawling up my leg. I let out an ear-piercing scream and kicked my leg out. The cockroach went flying across the room before it scuttled away too.

Fin burst out laughing and I glared at her as I collapsed on the bed. "That was not funny."

"Sorry, but it kinda was."

"I hate bugs," I moaned. She just laughed. Suddenly we heard another scream outside, so we went to investigate. Out on the wrap-around veranda was a girl with short dark brown hair. She was gripping the railing and looking very pale.

"Toilet blocked up again?" Johnny called from down stairs.

She nodded, "Uh-huh. Can you call maintenance?"

"I can call them but they won't come." I was not liking the sound of this place. We walked down the stairs to the couch.

Emma made a sound in the back of her throat, "They don't really clean this place much, do they?"

"What was your first clue?" Ripper asked sarcastically. Suddenly Emma gasped and started sniffing the air.

"What?" Fin asked. We looked at Ripper but he just shook his head.

"Wasn't me."

"Ahh, these couches smell like surf wax," She stated with a content sigh.

"Wow, you really love surfing huh?" Reef asked.

"Yes," She said quickly, before backpedalling. "I mean I think so, I've never tried it before."

"What?" Fin and I exclaimed.

"Are you serious?"

"That is a disgrace," Ripper said. "We have got to get this girl in the water pronto."

Reef stood up, "Never fear, the instructor is here and the surf's up."

"You don't want to be taught by a kook, do you?" Fin asked.

"Come on, we'll teach you." I said, gesturing to Fin and myself. We got up and walked to grab our boards. Anticipation and excitement built up in my stomach. Finally I could get back in the water!

There was a speaker attached to the side of the house and it chose this moment to make a noise.

"All new staff are to report for training immediately," Bummer's voice came over the speaker.

"Wow, we have to train today? But I was going to learn how to surf," Emma cried in disappointment.

"This stinks," Reef said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Get used to it mate. Management owns my butt, your butt, every ones butt." Ripper told us.

"No one owns my butt," Reef replied.

"This isn't exactly how I thought it would be," Emma said.

"You're telling me," I muttered.

Fin sighed, "Me neither."

Bummer's voice came back over the speaker, "If I don't see your faces in twenty seconds, I'll fire the whole lot of you. This is not a vacation and I do not tolerate slackers." We dropped our boards and started running to the hotel as fast as we could. I really didn't want to get fired.

"nineteen, eighteen, seventeen….."

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><p><strong>So, what did you think?<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

Once again I found my face scrunched up in distaste. We had arrived just before Bummer reached two and were quickly moved to the staff locker room where we were getting our uniforms. Currently, I was standing in a change room, staring at the so called uniform hanging up. I was not looking forward to this. I reached up and pulled it off the hook, getting changed into it. It wasn't so bad, I supposed, if you squinted your eyes and tilted your head when you looked at it.

I pulled back the curtain to my cubicle a second after Emma did. We looked at each other with mutual expressions of distaste. Fin, uncaring to our pain, laughed at us.

"Oh my gosh, that is so bad," She said.

"We really have to wear this?" I asked.

Bummer strode over to us, holding another uniform in his hand. "It's an authentic wench costume dating back to the early eighteen hundreds," he explained, as if that made it better. He held out the yellow dress that was the housekeeping uniform to Fin. Her grin dropped and I laughed this time.

"Okay, this is so lame, I'd rather wear the wench thing." Suddenly, another curtain was pulled across and the whale mascot stepped out.

"Consider yourself lucky," He said.

Again, Bummer butted in, explaining it in a way that he must have thought made the uniform more appealing, "Well, research shows that guests like the house keepers to look neat and respectable. It makes them feel like you won't actually steal their possessions."

Fin stomped down the hall in indignation, placing a hand on her hip and holding the uniform.

"Just put it on," Emma said, looking worriedly at Bummer. Fin lifted her head and walked into the cubicle just as Broseph and Reef arrived.

"Ugh," Broseph said in discomfort. "This is really itchy." He scratched at the fabric touching his chest. Reef spotted me and Emma wearing our costumes and grinned, taking out his phone and walking over.

He held it up in front of us and took a picture, "Arrgghh, little wenches, fetch me some Cola or I'll make you walk the plank." I just crossed my arms and rolled my eyes.

Emma frowned, "At least I don't look like-" I cut her off.

"A preppy little mama's boy." Emma looked at me, and we laughed because he totally did!

Broseph joined in, "She's right dude, you do."

Fin pulled the curtain back, a scowl on her face. Reef looked over and grinned again, "Oh, yikes, _that_ is bad." He once again held up his phone to take a picture but Fin glared at him threateningly.

"Do it and you lose it. This is so humiliating."

Bummer walked forward, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, life is unfair, daddy doesn't love me, blah, blah, blah. Here are your name tags, you are required to wear them at all times while on duty."

A guy wearing a costume similar in style to my own walked into the room. "Hey aren't you the dude that drove the jeep into the pool last night? That was awesome," he said to Broseph, placing his hand on his shoulder before walking off. Broseph turned to Bummer with a sheepish grin and shrugged his shoulders.

"I have no idea what that guy's talking about Bro."

He glared a little at Broseph but then began pacing in front of us like a drill sergeant. I immediately stood up straighter before laughing at myself and relaxing again. I guess I've watched too many movies centred around incredibly cute, fit guys who are in the military and are about to save earth. I laugh at myself again.

"Pay attention, listen up, all eyes on me," Bummer paced. I looked at Fin on my right and Emma on my left before rolling my eyes and pulling a face. Emma giggled and placed a hand on her mouth to stifle them while Fin snorted and tried, unsuccessfully, to turn it into a cough. Bummer cast a glare at them before continuing on. I just grinned.

"You may have heard a rumour that I have a tradition of firing one employee on the first day. That rumour is completely untrue." I felt the muscles in the back of my neck relax and my head tilted back in ecstatic relief. Thank goodness. I wasn't going to get fired! There must be some God, somewhere looking down on me and smiling. The others were smiling too and I turned to them to share in the relief. But that stopped when Bummer continued. "Sometimes it's more than one."

Maybe it was a vindictive God watching over me, and it wasn't really a smile but a leer.

A collective groan was emitted by us and I had the weirdest sense of solidarity. We were in this together. A bubbly happiness rose in my chest at the thought and, on this rare occasion, I felt like they were really my friends, despite that I only just met them and despite not knowing anything about them. With that knowledge, I felt lighter and it gave me the extra push to do well, to gain the opportunity to stay here, so that I may get to know them.

"Your performance and training today will be rated by your supervisors, so I suggest that you give them your full attention. Any questions?" out the corner of my eye I saw Reef raise his hand tentatively, but Bummer just barrelled on, uncaring. "Okay, then, I'll see you after training."

Emma winced and her shoulders slumped, "Oh, I hope I don't mess up."

I placed my hand on her shoulder, in a supportive manner, just as Fin did. We both wanted to help her and we both wanted her to make it. So, this is what real friendship was.

"Relax, how hard can serving food be, fight?" Fin said.

I nodded along and added, "Besides, I'll be there too. We're in the same boat, so it'll have to sink right to the bottom before I abandon you."

"Thanks," she smiled at us, though it definitely wasn't wholehearted. She was seriously worried about it. Her nervousness was contagious and by the time we made it to the Dining Room, a mass of butterflies had decided to take up residence in my stomach. I think I'm gunna be sick. I took deep, calming breaths before telling myself that I needed to relax. If I wasn't relaxed, I was sure to mess up.

Emma and I hardly said anything to each other the whole walk, proving just how nervous we were. It was ridiculous to feel this nervous about a serving job, but I couldn't help it. Once they moved in, butterflies were hard to evict.

We walked up the wooden draw-bridge to the pirate ship and saw that it wasn't very busy, though I'm sure that would change later on. I saw a woman behind a counter and assumed she was in charge as she wore a captain's outfit, complete with an eye-patch. I stifled my giggles and grabbed Emma's arm.

"Come on, over here," I pulled her along. We walked up to the woman as she finished drying a glass with a towel.

"Hi," I smiled at her. "My name is Nereida-Lynn Chase, but you can just call me Nereida, because it's a bit of a mouthful. My dad only uses my full name when I'm in trouble, which isn't often, though…" I trailed off and winced as I realised I was babbling. She just looked at me indifferently. "And I don't know why I said that. This is Emma. We're the new-"

"Summer staff, yeah, I know. I'm Kelly, and I'm your boss. I'll be supervising you so try not to mess up." She cut me off. I got the distinct impression that she wasn't a really friendly person. "Okay, so listen up. It's really not that hard. All you will be doing is setting the tables; and by that I mean, making sure the tablecloths are clean, setting the plates at each chair along with the cutlery. The size of the table tells you how many menus to set at each table and of course, the flower in the middle of every table. When the customers come in, you introduce yourself, get their drink preferences first. Ask them if they are ready to order. If so, take their order then bring it to the kitchen and hang the slip up, then get their drinks. If not, get their drinks then comeback and ask if they are now ready to order. You will be polite and you will not piss them off. Your first priority is to make them happy because they also rate you on staff evaluation slips. Any questions?" she asked. I didn't know anyone could talk so much. I, myself have been known to a couple of long tirades and arguments but they were usually passionate cases that were my beliefs and opinions. Kelly looked completely bored, like she was just going through the motions. She reminded me of Bummer a little, though Bummer was more get-this-done-know while Kelly was more i-couldn't-really-care-less.

Emma and I looked at each other. Her brown eyes were wide and she looked so nervous. My nerves had died down, though the butterflies were still there. When neither of us had any questions, she continued on, "Good. But before any of that, you can mop the kitchen floor. It won't take you long." She walked to the back of the ship, gesturing for us to follow her. We walked through a swinging door that led to the kitchen. Right at the back were the cooks, starting to arrive. Kelly passed us a mop and bucket each.

"You can fill them up over there," she said pointing to a sink. "Detergent is under the sink." Oh joy. Cleaning floors, just what I'd rather be doing instead of surfing. Not.

As Kelly walked off, we walked over to the sink, getting busy. The silence was heavy, and I could tell Emma was still nervous as anything.

"So, where are you from?" I asked her, trying to lift the silence and make her more comfortable. After all, she was my friend.

"I'm from Calgary, Alberta. What about you?" She smiled.

"Churchill, Manitoba." She nodded at me. There was another pause before Emma spoke again.

"Thanks."

"For what?" I frowned. What had I done to make her grateful?

"For trying to calm my nerves."

Oh, right. Duh. "It was a pretty pathetic attempt," I grimaced. It was embarrassing really. Where are you from? Is that the best I could do?

"No, no," she laughed. "It was nice. But no matter what you said, I'd still be nervous, but thanks. So… do you have any brothers or sisters?"

"No, it's just me and my dad." I smiled. She nodded, but there was the question in her eyes. There is always the question. _Where's your mum?_ I debated whether to tell Emma. She seemed so nice, the kind of person you could be good friends with. And she didn't push me for information, demanding answers. She smiled at me and I felt that happiness that comes with having people around you who aren't related to you but take an interest in your life, wanting to be a part of it. Friends. I trust Emma.

"My mum died before she had any more kids and my dad didn't remarry."

Sympathy welled in her eyes and she said softly, "Oh, I'm sorry. That must have been hard, growing up without a mum."

"Sometimes. I was just a baby when she died, so I don't really remember her. It makes it easier, I guess, not having something to miss. She had this made for me," I said, lifting a long chain from my neck. It was a small pendant with an impression of a guardian angel on one side and Saint Michael on the other. The chain was long enough so the pendant part sat between my breasts. I never take it off.

Emma gently touched the guardian angel, then flipped it over and looked at Saint Michael. "It's pretty."

"Thanks." I said, tucking it back beneath my wench's costume. The neckline made it possible to see the chain around my neck and the two sides of it coming down the front of my chest, coming together to disappear under it. "What about you? Any siblings?"

"I have two older brothers; Josh and Trent." We washed the floors, while Kelly watched with a critical eye. I spilled a little of the soapy water on my shoes once, but it was only a little, so it would dry quickly. When we were done, Kelly took us back to the kitchen area. There were trays with stacks of white glass plates on them.

"Now set the tables," She said. She picked up one tray stacked high with plates, holding it up near her shoulders. The guy from the change rooms before, dressed in the male version of the wench costumes, and did the same as Kelly, walking out the swinging door with ease. They made it look so easy.

Emma and I looked at each other again. I shrugged my shoulders at her, "Good luck." I grabbed one tray as she watched me. It was a lot heavier than what I thought it would be. Kelly had made it seem easy, but it wasn't really. My tray wobbled a little as I tried to lift it up like they had. It was times like this that I wished I wasn't quite so petite. Sure, I was curvy and lithe, but if I was a bit bigger, I would probably have a bit more muscle.

I bent my knees, like I did when I was surfing to steady myself, and that's when an idea came to me. Pretend I was surfing. After all, surfing required balance. Taking a deep breath, I straightened and walked forward, sliding my feet along so I felt like I was gliding. Every time I started to wobble, I would bend my knees again and pretend I was balancing on my surfboard. By the time I made it to the door, my arms had gotten used to the weight and I hardly wobbled. A grin of triumph worked its way to my mouth. I turned sideways and pushed the door open gently before stepping through. I quickly spotted a table and kept walking to it as the door swung shut behind me. I heard a shout and then a crash. I began turning around, assuming it was Emma, to go help but Kelly stopped me.

"Don't Grom, she has to do it herself. I'm marking you on how well you do, not how well you do together," She snapped.

"What? But-"

"She has to learn herself, got it Grom?"

I heard another grass as more plates shattered. I winced. "Fine," I said venomously to her.

I set the plates down as quickly as possible while trying to be neat. The faster I did this, the faster I could get back in there to help Emma. When I walked back into the kitchen, there was scattered glass on the floor and Emma was dusting it up.

"Emma," I said, grabbing a brush to clean up as well.

She looked up at me and her eyes were a little glassy. I didn't want her to cry, I don't know what to do when someone cries. She shook her head, "No, don't worry 'bout me. I'm fine." I just helped her clean up the glass, in time for round two. As I grabbed another tray, I showed her what I did.

"Look, centre your body, if you lean too much one way with such a heavy load so high off the ground, then gravity takes over. Keep your back straight and it might help if you keep your hips in line with your shoulders. Find your balance, Emma, you can do it." She nodded at me as a grateful smile tilted her lips.

"Okay, I got this. Thanks. You go on." I nodded and turned to the swing door, thinking idly that I was doing a lot of nodding lately. This time I made it to the table before I heard another crash, though it was louder this time. I turned back around to see her picking up bits of plates just in front of the door.

"Oh no," I muttered. I quickly set the plates down at each seat and walked over to her. "What happened this time?"

"I stopped just in front of the door and it swung back and hit me," she half-smiled at me. It was a miserable smile. More of a grimace. I grimaced with her.

"Don't do it again, Grom," Kelly said, walking back into the kitchen, clipboard in hand, scribbling away. Emma and I looked at each other nervously. Oh no.

"Come on, put those plates down, then we have to take orders." I told her. She nodded and finished up, walking over to an empty table and setting out the plates while I grabbed two notebooks, chucking one at Emma as I went by. I walked over to a man and a woman in the corner who had sat down before. I saw a glint of gold and noticed the wedding bands on their fingers.

"Good Afternoon, I'm Nereida and I'll be your server this afternoon."

"Oh, what an unusual name. Don't you think dear?" the woman asked the man. He looked at her lovingly and nodded along with her, adoration clear on his face. They were a cute couple. "What does it mean?"

"Sea Nymph. It's of Greek origin. In Greek mythology, the Nereids were deities of the seas, sometimes depicted as mermaids," I told her, smiling.

"Oh, how interesting," She turned to her husband for agreement.

"Fascinating," he said, smiling at her. Oh, the poor shmuck. He was doomed.

"Are you two ready to order?"

"Yes, I would like the 'Sea Scurvy' meal please, and my beautiful wife will have the 'Fisherman's Chicken Salad'."

"Okay," I said, writing it down. "And what would you like to drink?"

"I'll just have water dear," the woman said.

"And I'll have a coke."

"No problem. I'll be right back with your drinks and your food should be done soon."

The rest of the afternoon went past in a blur. I don't think I've ever been on my feet for this long at any one time. I took orders and set tables and smiled at customers. It wasn't too difficult. I just had to concentrate on the faces, and remember them; otherwise I'd end up messing up their order. The customers were kind most of the time, with the odd grumpy person. It helped that it wasn't really busy; most people ate their lunch around midday.

When our shift ended, I was thoroughly exhausted. We trudged our way to the dorm, not saying anything. Talking took too much effort.

We slumped on the couch outside and waited for the others to turn up, still not saying anything. We didn't even move.

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading!<strong>

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	4. Chapter 4

We just sat on the porch, hardly moving. The warmth from the sun beat down on us and the far off crash of the waves called to me, but I couldn't move. It took too much effort. Reef, Broseph and Fin had got there a few minutes after us, looking just as exhausted. We just sat there.

Finally, Reef spoke up. "That was seriously the hardest day of my life."

"None of you could have done as badly as me. I messed up so many times," Emma sighed. I felt so bad. Apart from the plates, I didn't even notice that she stuffed up. I made a vow to pay closer attention to her in the future. The next shift, I would watch over her like a hawk.

"Isn't this when we're supposed to go surfing?" Reef asked. I pictured myself on the waves, the cool, salty sea water refreshing me and wiping away the thoughts from the day. I felt a little energy enter my system, but not enough to move.

"Too tired," Broseph said.

"Way too tired," Fin complained.

"Come on, we made it all this way today, we have to get one quick session in," Reef said. How did he have the energy left to encourage us? I felt a little envious of that.

"Reef's right guys. Who knows when we'll get an hour off again?" Emma said. I looked at her and saw determination in her eyes. I was so proud of her. She had had such a tough day, yet she soldiered on. She gave me strength.

"Okay, okay, I'm in," I said, sitting up straight.

"Alright, let's go," Fin said.

"Cool," Broseph added.

"Meet you back in five," Reef said, before taking off.

I got up of the couch, body sore and walked up the stairs. The more I moved, the better I felt. Fin and I entered our room and I found my togs, pulling them on. Taking the time to unpack a little, I unzipped one of my bags and pulled out the books I had brought with me. I placed them on the thin bookcase near my bed, along with my sketch pad and pencils. That was all I could be bothered to unpack; there was no point in completely unpacking in case I was the one sent home.

When I turned around, Fin had her swimmers on as well. She had a short sleeved yellow swim shirt and purple bikini bottoms.

"Ready?" She said.

"You bet'cha. Last one there's a rotten toad."

She laughed as I ran past her, fighting to catch up. No one wants to be a toad. When we got down stairs, I touched my surfboard before her.

"Looks like you're the rotten toad."

"Ugh, I guess so, but you had an unfair advantage," She grinned.

"You're just trying to find excuses. I won, fair and square."

Reef was already down as well, grabbing his red surfboard. Emma appeared at the top of the stairs, gripping a bag to her chest.

"You coming Alberta?" I called up to her.

"Uh, maybe next time. There was a little skunk incident in my room."

"Bummer. 'kay, catch ya in a bit," Fin said, walking down the trail to the beach. Reef wasn't far behind her.

"You want some help Emma?" I asked. She looked so sad.

"No, no, I'll be right. You go ahead."

"If you're sure," I said hesitantly.

"I'm sure. Go." I frowned at her, reading her face. She smiled at me.

"Okay. Get me if you need anything, though."

"Okay."

I turned and walked down the trail. The closer I got, the stronger the saltiness on the air got, the louder the waves got, the stronger the wind got. I sighed in happiness. At the end of the trail, I reached the edge of the beach and the sand under my feet was a warm reminder of what the water held for me. The refreshing, invigorating, calming water. The weight of my board was familiar as I jogged to the water. It sprayed up and hit my legs as I splashed my way through it, a happy smile on my face. I looked around but I didn't see Fin or Reef. Shrugging, I paddled my board out, sitting there a moment as I watched the double overhead. A tingling sensation started in my stomach and spread to me arms and legs. I wanted to surf it. I started paddling for it.

Time passed so quickly. What felt like seconds was really minutes. I let the spontaneity of the waves take over my mind until I became the surfer. Not the waitress. Not a summer staff. A surfer. The water made me feel alive and the last of the days aches and pains were washed away from me.

I dragged my finger along a wave, letting the water trickle on my fingers. I felt giddy and happy. A lightness built in my chest, the way it always does when I surf, and I felt better. Complete.

Ripper passed me, pulling out some mean tricks. He smiled at me as he went by. "Sheila," he said. I grinned and waved at him.

I glanced at the beach and saw Broseph standing next to Emma who was lying on a surf board. She popped up and did rotated her wrists. I smiled as I realised he was teaching her to surf. I was glad she got the chance to start surfing. She looked so happy.

The sun was setting and I decided to call it quits. I didn't want to get out of the water, but I was used to that feeling by now. I always felt melancholy when I had to get out of the water. I walked over to Emma and Broseph.

"Looking good," I told her.

"Thanks," she said, a little breathless.

"You going out there now?"

"Yep," excitement was clear in her voice. "I'll see ya later." She ran out to the water.

"It's really nice of you to do this," I told Broseph.

"Nah, it's cool, Brah." He said, before walking after her.

I slowly made my way back to the dorm, letting the water droplets slide down my body. By the time I got there, the last bits of the sun's rays had dried my body, leaving only my hair wet. It swung in curls at my butt, light and wavy, and a slight breeze pushed it about. I felt completely rejuvenated.

I sat on the couch on the porch with Ripper and Lance and Martha. Ripper and Lance joked around and I joined in. they were nice to be around. Martha however, was, for lack of a better word, a cow. She just sat there and made sarcastic remarks, none of them nice. She seriously deflated my good mood.

"So, you liking the DR?" Ripper asked me.

"It's okay. A little different to what I was expecting."

"What were you expecting?"

"I don't know but it wasn't that." I grinned. His lips twisted up into a smile.

Martha, once again, sighed dramatically loud, letting us know that she wasn't interested in anything we were saying. I had had just about enough of her, but I ignored her. Again.

"How long have you been working here?" I asked Ripper. Lance was playing a game on the TV and was too fixated to make conversation at the moment.

"Oh, who cares?" Martha demanded. Right, that was it. I couldn't take it no more. I don't get upset or annoyed easily and I'm often the first person to use a sarcastic remark, but I can't stand mean people. People who say stuff just to be annoying. People like her.

"Will you shut up?" I demanded. "For christsakes, I wasn't even talking to you. Mind your own goddamn business. Or go somewhere else."

"I was here first. It isn't your personal couch, so don't tell me to shut up."

"Martha, ease up, will you," Ripper said, his voice heavily accented.

"Flirt with her somewhere else," She snapped at him.

"You have got to be kidding me! That's not flirting, you, you, you," I said. I don't like calling people names when it's not a part of a joke. When I'm seriously angry, I can't swear or call people names.

"You, you what? Huh? What am i?"

I pursed my lips and took a calming breath. "You're not a very nice person." I already felt a little ashamed of my outburst. I shouldn't let her get me so angry.

"I'm not a very nice person?" she asked incredulously. "Wow, I'm hurt," she said, placing a hand over her heart and wincing in mock pain. I rolled my eyes at her and remained silent. Johnny arrived then, followed soon after by Fin and Reef.

"Where were you?" I asked Fin. "I followed you out but you weren't on the beach."

"Yeah I know, we got roped into hall sitting."

"You were babysitting a hall?" I said slowly, making sure I'd heard right.

"Yeah," she sighed. I let it drop. What a waste of time, babysitting a hall.

Emma and Broseph arrived shortly after and I grinned at Emma.

"How'd it go?" I asked her.

She grinned happily, "It was amazing."

"She's a natural," Broseph added, glancing at her in pride.

"Heads up guys," Johnny said.

Bummer was walking towards us, a clipboard in hand. He walked in his silhouette, as the sun was touching the horizon, spilling the final rays of sunlight on us.

"Listen up people, as you may have guessed, I have the unfortunate duty of sending one of you home today," Bummer said.

"He's really going to fire someone?" I heard Fin ask.

"That is cold," broseph said.

My eyes stayed on Bummer as I waited for the verdict. Please don't let me go home.

"The employee with the lowest evaluation today was…" Talk about suspense. Emma was muttering 'pleasedon'tbeme' in quick succession and Reef was looking very pale. Next to me, Martha just sat there, reading a magazine, not even caring to listen to Bummer. "…Martha Mcartney."

"What?" she jumped up in shock, which quickly turned to anger. She stalked down the stairs, walking away, positively fuming. Emma did a little happy dance.

"Smell ya later," lance said.

"Ah, that's such a shame, I hate to see that happen to such a nice girl," Johnny added. I snorted. Yeah, right.

"Whatever," She called back to us. "Enjoy the bugs and lack of hot water." We all laughed a little. A dark, mean side of me was happy to see her go.

"As of right now, you are all on six weeks probation. If you're late by one minute, that's a strike. If you get anything less than a seven out of ten on your guest evaluation, that's a strike. If you steal a half-eaten brownie, that's a strike. Three strikes and you're out. Do I make myself clear?" He asked in a deadly tone. "Summer season starts tomorrow people, punch in is at seven am. Don't be late, and don't test me." He walked away. I let out the breath I didn't realise I was holding.

After he left, Fin stood up, stretching, "Well, I've had enough of being bossed around for one day. I'm going to bed."

"That is one of the best ideas I've heard all day," I sighed, following her up. I yawned and couldn't believe how tired I was.

We walked in the room to find extra suitcases on the floor and a girl sitting on the bed next to Fins'. She had brown hair and a yellow dress.

"Who're you?" Fin asked.

"I'm you're new roommate, Lo, the other room smelt like skunk." she said.

I shrugged and pulled out the bed sheets from a bag, tossing it under my bed and got to work making it.

"that's a lot of stuff, did you lug it all the way here with you?" Fin asked.

"I only had to come from the penthouse," Lo replied. I stopped in the middle of tucking the sheet under the mattress, and straightened my back. Hold up. She was _t_he Lo we had to clean up after?

"Oh, wait," Fin said, sitting on my partially made bed. "You're the Lo whose huge party we spent the whole day cleaning up after. We didn't get to surf all day, because of you."

"Well, I got to surf, but that's not the point."

"Well, that's kind of your job, isn't it?" Lo said. Sigh, she had a point.

"Yeah," Fin said dejectedly. "How long did you say you were staying here?"

"Not very long. My dad totally went outer limits about my party and is trying to teach me a lesson or something. I'm totally cut off, he's actually making me work in the dining room."

I pushed Fin off my bed and continued making it. When I'd finished, I threw myself down and relaxed, letting the muscles in my body unwind.

"Wow, he's hard core," I said, looking at her from my bed.

"I know, right? So, it's cool if I crash here?"

"Doesn't bother me," I said, looking at Fin.

"Yeah, sure, knowing you're being tortured for trashing the place makes me feel better about cleaning up after it."

We heard crying coming from outside my door, and I recognised it as Emma. I got up, and we walked over to her, to see what the matter was.

There were hazard signs outside her door and it was barricaded off. Ooohhh, doesn't look good.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Fin asked.

"My room has been declared an environmental hazard." She cried.

"Come on," I said, placing my arm around her shoulders and steering her to our room. "You're officially staying with us."

"Really?" She asked hopefully.

"Yep."

We walked back in the door, and Emma spotted Lo. "Who are you?" she asked curiously.

"It's a long story." Lo said.

Reefs excited voice called up to us, "Hey guys, Bon fire on the beach for new staff, come on."

"I can do that," Fin said, her excitement growing too.

"Oh, I can order room service," Lo said. We just looked at her pityingly. "I can't order room service, can i?"

"No, but I have marshmallows. And we have a beach and we have a bon fire." Emma said.

"Come on, this will be fun. I can't wait to see the stars." I said, making my way down stairs.

The beach was nice at night. It was completely deserted and the only noise was the soothing sound of the ocean. The night air wasn't hot or cold, but just right, and the crackling fire wood added the perfect touch. With the marshmallows roasting on the fire, Life was good.

"Okay, I have a toast," Fin said. "Okay, so maybe our jobs kind of suck."

"And our boss is a total dork," Reef added.

"Yeah," Fin continued. "But the waves are awesome and the beach is beautiful."

"And the stars are luminous," I added.

"And this summer is seriously going to be fun. To Surfer's Paradise," She yelled.

"To Surfer's Paradise," we yelled back in unison. This summer is going to be the best of my life.

I could just feel it.

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><p><strong>Thanks so much for reading!<strong>

**And thank you to my reviewers, again.**

**AnaleighJames, Check your inbox, i've messaged you. (Just letting you know :))**


	5. Chapter 5

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

The insistent beeping of the alarm clock broke through to me in my sleep and I opened my eyes to a new day. Bright yellow sunlight spilled through the open window, warming the covers of my sheets. I rolled over in my bed, laying on my back, one arm pressed against the cool wood wall. Contentment washed over me and I smiled, breathing in the soft smelling detergent that still clings to my bed sheets. The smell reminded me of home, and a pang of nostalgia went through my gut. Thankfully though, it disappeared quickly, and I went back to being content.

I yawned and stretched my arms over my head, arching my back, just as the other girls started to stir. I looked out the window and could just see the beach, the air fresh and warm on my skin. On the path below I could see Johnny, Ripper, Lance and Ty making their way towards the front of the dorm, where Kelly was waiting. A small smile played around my lips when I saw Ty. Light spilled through the trees outlining him with the sun's rays. There was a nudge in the back of my mind when I saw him like that and I frowned as I tried to remember what it was. Suddenly, it came to me. Ty was how I pictured Apollo, the Greek God of the sun, to look; all sun-kissed and glowing and warm-looking. I smiled at the thought.

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

The alarm clock was still going; someone really needed to turn it off. As if she only just heard it, Fin suddenly woke up and fell of her bed and Emma sat up in hers, wiping the sleep from their eyes. Lo just groaned and pulled the covers over her head.

"What are you so happy about this morning?" Emma asked me, noticing my smile.

"Yeah, it's way too early to smile," Fin stated.

I saw Ty this morning and he is looking gorgeous. "No reason. Can't a girl smile around here?" I said. No way was I telling them the real reason.

Fin tugged the bottom of her white singlet down and brushed off dust from her pink three-quarter pyjama shorts as she stood up. Emma threw back her covers and stood up, stretching. She had a white t-shirt and yellow three-quarter pyjama shorts. Lo, I knew, had a nightgown on, the top white and the bottom blue. What was with all the white around here? I looked down at my fitted black singlet that was probably a too-low cut but was comfortable anyway, and my light purple short pyjamas bottoms which were quite short. I believed in wearing what was comfortable to bed, and to me, the less material on me was better. Probably because I tossed and turned when I sleep and my clothing ends up twisting around my body; so I figure, the less material I wear, the less material there is twisted around me and constricting me. My necklace was tucked under my singlet, laying against the skin of my exposed neck and the top part of my chest before making its way towards my breasts. Where it always was.

"No, not in the morning," Fin grumbled. I just shook my head and laughed. We got up and made our way down stairs, pulling the covers off Lo as we went. I wondered if there was anything to eat or if it was as disgusting as the house. Spying an apple on the counter, I grabbed it before following Fin and Emma to the front porch, where everyone else seemed to be. I inspected the apple closely and when I spotted no blemishes or holes or worms, I took a bite. It was good.

As we plonked ourselves down on the couches there, Fin collapsed and Emma's head rested on my shoulder as they both tried to sleep. Good God, they were not morning people. I munched away on my apple and looked around. Kelly was there, her arms folded and a smile on her face. It wasn't a nice smile, more like an I'm-about-to-make-you-unhappy-which-I'm-happy-about kind of smile. Reef and Broseph had made it down as well, looking a little tired too. Ripper stood in front of us and Lance, Johnny and Ty were standing casually behind him. They were a little wet, which meant they had obviously gone surfing. They were shirtless, except for Johnny, the same as they were when I saw them out my window before.

I kept sneaking glances at Ty's well-toned chest before looking away, embarrassed and hoping no one saw me look. I mentally scolded myself for acting like a silly school girl, before remembering that I was a school girl. However, I wasn't _silly_. His eyes were so blue they reminded me of the ocean, and God, did I want to swim in them. They calmed me, just like the ocean did. I looked at his lips and dearly wished I could kiss them. He was just so perfect; it was unfair of him to subject me to his perfectness this early in the morning. The least he could do was give me time to prepare, or put a shirt on. No, no, scratch that, I definitely didn't want him to put a shirt on.

I felt the goofy grin on my face as my eyes travelled from his chest back to his eyes. He was looking at me and as my eyes met his, I froze before quickly looking away. I felt the blush colour my checks and start to spread to my whole face. No, please don't let me go red as a tomato. It's embarrassing enough that he caught me staring. I forced the blush away and resigned myself not to look at him again. Talk about acting like an idiot. He caught me staring at him and it was never going to happen again. I had to stop thinking about him like that. I just met the guy, I knew nothing about him, yet I wanted to kiss him? It was ridiculous. Yeah he's attractive, but that doesn't equate to anything. I had to get my head out of the clouds.

"Listen up Groms," Ripper said in a demanding tone. Would it kill him to say please? "You are about to embark on a journey that every new employee at Sunset Beach must face."

"Good God, I hope you're not going to say 'a journey of self-discovery'" I said to him. "Because that's a load of horse crap. I already know who the bloody hell I am." I really wasn't in the mood for the seniors to pull a mightier-than-thou act.

Fin laughed at me, which made me laugh too, and then because I was laughing, Emma's head was bouncing on my shoulder, which caused her to laugh too. We sobered up when Ripper glared at us. I rolled my eyes at him, what's up his butt?

He continued on as if I hadn't said anything. "Grom initiation." With that, Lo stood up, sleeping mask still in place, and walked back to bed. "And where do you think you're going?"

"Oh, I don't really work here. I'm going back to bed," She said, however, she stayed where she was when Kelly started talking.

"Until six o'clock tonight, you are ours," She said. I raised an eyebrow at her as I looked her over from head to toe, noticing the menacing smile.

"You know what? I think I'd rather take the journey of self-discovery," I didn't like the look of that smile.

But she just ignored me as well. "If you run, we'll find you. If you resist, it'll just make it worse. You will do anything a senior tells you to do today. If a senior tells you to bark, you say?"

"Woof?" Broseph asked.

"If one of us tells you to jump, you say?"

"Oh, oh," the mascot jumped in the air, waving his hand like he was answering a teacher. "Uh…Woof?" I looked at him in disbelief. Honestly?

We all just ignored that.

"This is totally Bogus," Reef said. "What if we don't do what you say? You going to fire us?" he asked in a mocking voice.

"No," she said simply.

"Give us a strike?"

"No," she said again.

"Then that's all I needed to hear."

"But," Ty cut in. God, even his voice was attractive. It was smooth but also a little rough and deep. "If you make it through, we'll let you surf the office."

Oh. My. God. Is he serious? The office! The legendary perfect surf spot? Ohmygod ohmygod ohmygod. Every ones reaction was the same as mine; gasps all 'round.

"Ex-squeeze-me? Did you just say the office?" Reef asked.

"I've heard about the office. I thought it was just an urban legend," Fin said in amazement.

"No, I read about it. It's supposed to be the perfect break, but almost no one knows where it is," Emma added.

"I've changed my mind. I choose Grom initiation over journey of self-discovery," I said.

"Only those who pass the test get to see it," Ripper told us. "It won't be easy and it will be gross. If you want to back out, now's your chance."

Emma jumped up, squealing. "I'm so excited. I'm in, I'm in."

Fin and I laughed at her enthusiasm. "I've got four brothers, bring it on," Fin said.

"Yeah, whatever mean and horrible things you make us do will be worth it in the end," I said, standing up and taking another bite of my apple.

"I'm up for a little punishment."

"Initiation starts now and runs until the end of the day. consider yourselves warned," Ripper told us.

"We've still got an hour or so before our shift starts," Johnny said to Ty, Lance and Ripper.

"Right, let's go," Ripper, said, as they took off running and they disappeared.

"I wonder what they're going to do to us," Emma sighed.

"Yo, I heard last year was pretty rough. Saw some Groms running naked down by the pier," Broseph said.

"Well, I'm not doing it," Reef said adamantly.

"Did you not just hear them? The office," Fin said exasperatedly.

"Yeah, and if they can find it, so can we. All I have to do is find where the secret surf spot is, and we can blow the senior off. I'm going after them," Reef said.

"Wait," the whale mascot said, chasing after Reef. "I'm coming too."

"Good luck," I called after them.

I turned back to Fin and Emma and Broseph and Lo. "Johnny's right, we still have an hour or so until work. We can go for a surf," I said as I ran back to the stairs to get changed. They followed behind me, getting changed and then running back down to get our boards, except for Lo, who just went back to bed, mumbling about how she needed beauty sleep.

It was quiet on the beach this morning, though it was probably too early for most of the people to be awake anyway, so we had the waves to ourselves for once. The waves woke me up all the way and soon, we were surfing again. If this was how we were going to spend the summer, then I couldn't wait.

Though, I wasn't too excited about Grom initiation. I pictured loads of nasty things they could make us do, and hoped they wouldn't come up with any.

Oh, well, I sighed, as we made our way back to the dorm to get changed for our shift. At least I wasn't alone for it.

We walked along the path to get to the hotel, conscious of the time after Bummer's little tirade yesterday. We walked along in content silence; a gentle breeze passed us every now and then, lifting some hair off my neck.

Inside the lobby, we were about to part ways when Fin grabbed my arm, "Hang on."

I looked at her questioningly before telling Emma I'd see her in there. "What?" I asked, curiosity taking hold.

"I noticed something this morning, on the front porch," She said slowly.

I laughed a little, "Okay," I said, just as slowly. What was she getting at?

"Something between a certain surf-girl and a certain millionaire's-son," she said, raising an eyebrow suggestively and smiling at me mischievously. I froze as blood drained from my face and I went pale.

"What are you talking about?" I tried for nonchalant and casual, as if I had no idea what she was talking about. It didn't fool her.

How could she know? I thought no one saw!

"Mm-hmm," she said as she went to walk away. This time it was me who grabbed her arm.

"Fin, wait. I… Just, please don't say anything. Whatever you think you saw, it was just me being silly. It was too early in the morning and I was too sleep-deprived, so I was acting funny," I tried laughing it off.

She stared at me intently for a second, scrutinising my face, looking for signs that would let her know what I was feeling. I schooled my features and smiled at her. God, I'm a terrible liar. She'll probably see it on my face. But she just shrugged and grinned at me, "Sure, I'll keep your secret." She said before walking away. I breathed a sigh of relief when she let it drop. I didn't want to talk about. And I wouldn't.

I walked towards the pirate ship and signed in for my shift, just in time too. The pirate music playing over head was faintly annoying, but it was better than silence, I supposed. Sometimes silence was good, but at the moment it wasn't helpful. If it was quiet, then I had more of a chance to start thinking about everything, which wasn't useful this morning.

People would start arriving soon, so we had to set up quickly. I almost forgot about Grom initiation until I saw Kelly again. I followed behind Emma, back into the kitchen to grab more plates, blocking her from my view.

"I almost forgot about Grom initiation," I groaned.

"Me too. I don't want to find out what they are going to do to us," Emma sighed. I grabbed another tray of plates and started walking for the doors. I was so deeply inside my head, thinking about Grom initiation, that I walked towards the wrong door. Leaving the kitchen, you're supposed to use the swing door on the right. I didn't even notice what I was doing until I had pushed the left door open and felt it collide with something hard.

On the other side of the door was Kelly, holding a plate of smelly food, half of it strewn on the floor, the other half on her dress.

"Oh, my God. I'm so sorry. I wasn't paying attention. Are you alright?" I asked her. I felt so bad; she was going to smell for the rest of the day.

"I'm fine. Just clean this up and start serving," She snapped at me before walking off. I shrugged and did as I was told. It really did smell. I walked over to a family of three and took their orders, using the right amount of politeness and cordiality in my voice. I walked over to the bar to get their drinks just as I heard a crash. I looked over to see Emma with the same smell stuff as Kelly on her skirt. Kelly was right next to her, holding another plate. What a cow.

I gave the family their drinks before walking over and grabbing the coffee pot. I walked around the room, asking customers if the wanted coffee. I looked over to the entrance to see Lo walk in, not wearing her uniform, but her yellow dress. What is she doing? She sat down at what I now understand as the Ridgemount table. I walked over to her and she motioned to her coffee cup.

"Coffee please," She said to me. I frowned at her, but poured the coffee nevertheless.

"Shouldn't you punch in? you're going to be late," I whispered to her.

"Oh, I'm sure daddy's over it by now," She said smoothly. I raised an eyebrow at her in disbelief. I looked over her head and saw Ty walk in with who I assumed was his father and his little brother. His dad was tall and intimidating, wearing a black suit and reading the newspaper. It was a little ominous.

"Morning daddy," Lo chirped when he sat at the table.

Emma came over to me and whispered, "Kelly said for me to take this table." She looked so nervous, her face pale. I nodded and moved back a little, watching her. I had already taken the orders at my table; I was just waiting for them to be ready, so I had time to watch over her. Kelly was grinning like a vulture that had spotted a dead carcass.

Emma set to filling Lo's coffee as the rest of the family walked past. I couldn't help but notice her eyes linger on Ty as he walked past. "Hey," She said hesitantly to him. She wasn't paying attention to the coffee as it started to over flow onto the pristine tablecloth. Oh no, she needed to concentrate.

"Aren't you supposed to be taking my order?" the younger boy said.

"Aren't you supposed to be taller?" She quipped back. I supressed a giggle.

"Your brother is right. Why aren't you working?" Mr Ridgemount asked as Emma walked over to pour him some coffee too. Luckily, she didn't spill it this time.

"Oh, it's okay. I've learnt my lesson about respecting money and stuff and I'm ready to come back up to the penthouse," Lo said happily.

"You're not going anywhere young lady, not until you show me you've got a solid work ethic," Mr Ridgemount said sternly. He looked at his watch, "I've got a conference call. I want you to report to work this morning," He got up and left.

"Okay, okay. Right after breakfast," She said. I rolled my eyes at her.

Emma pour coffee for Ty, grinning at him, she went to walk away but she tripped and fell.

"Emma," I said, rushing to her, but she just got up and continued to grin at him. He wasn't really paying attention.

"Okay, your brother is so cute," She said. A pang went through me at her words. Emma liked Ty? An emotion I wasn't used to bubbled up inside me, but I supressed it. I watched Emma look at him adoringly. It was like the husband and wife from last night, when I took their orders. The husband had looked just like that at his wife, and they ended up married. And now Emma was looking at Ty that way. I looked down at my feet. Maybe they should be together? I looked at Ty and blushed when I saw him looking at me. We both looked away. Would he be good for Emma? Would they be good together?

"Eeww, him?" I heard Lo ask with disgust. I laughed and the feeling that had been climbing in my chest disappeared, replaced with happiness. Lo's expression was hilarious.

My laugh died in my throat as Kelly walked over to Lo, "Too bad about your dad not letting you quit. I should feel sorry for you but I don't because you're spoilt and rich," She said.

I frowned at her, "Kelly, that's-"

But Lo just kept talking, "Daddy's just trying to make a point. He wasn't even really mad, when he's really mad, his eye twitches. Hey, if you aren't too busy minding other people's business; can I get an egg whit omelette? Thanks," she said.

I left them to their business, walking back to the kitchen to see if the orders were ready. I carried their food out to them, asking if they wanted anything else, before walking back to the kitchen to get other orders. Surprisingly, it wasn't too busy. I suppose more people sleep in and have breakfast later. After taking the last of my orders out, I grabbed a coffee pot and started to walk around, seeing if anyone wanted refills. Ahead of me, I saw Emma give Ty his breakfast and smiled, she seemed calmer.

I was walking past Lo when Kelly stepped forward and said to Emma, "Hey Grom, get down on one knee and ask Ty here to marry you," She said, laughter in her voice. Emma froze and her face went pale again. Lucky she had put the plate of food down otherwise she might have dropped it. She clasped her hands together and I noticed that they shook. Her eyes darted around the room and I didn't know what she was searching for.

"What? I, I, don't think I can do that," Emma said pleadingly. Ty's face looked like a grimace. Emma's eyes were so wide; she looked like she was going to be sick. She was getting so worked up, I just wanted her to calm down and relax. I didn't want her to have to subjectify herself like that.

"Do it, or you'll never see the office," Kelly said.

"Come on Kelly, don't make her do that. It's ridiculous," I tried reasoning with her. Kelly glared at me evilly before pausing to think about it. Her smile grew.

"Okay, she doesn't have to do it," She said. I smiled at her and Emma looked intensely relieved. I went to walk away, but Kelly's next words stopped me. "But you do." She wore a self-satisfied smirk.

"What?" I asked. She didn't really mean what I thought she meant, did she?

"You have to propose to Ty," She said. "Or Emma does." I gaped at her. No way. No way was I going to get on one knee and ask an unfairly gorgeous person to marry me. It was too embarrassing. I looked at Emma, who looked sick again and was looking at her shoes. I sighed.

"Fine," I said. She glanced up at me in surprise which turned to gratitude. I smiled at her.

Once again butterflies decided to make themselves known. I looked at Ty and tried to smile, but I'm pretty sure it came out as a grimace.

"You don't have to do this," He said.

I took a deep calming breath that didn't do anything and said, "Yes I do. I want to surf the office." I bent on one knee and looked at his eyes. His clear, crystal blue eyes that looked so like the ocean, and suddenly felt calmer. This was no big deal. I had to stop being a baby. I smiled at him.

"Will you marry me?" I asked, grinning. Ty's little brother laughed, but Ty elbowed him in the side.

He held out his hand to help me up. Such a gentleman. "Uh, ask me again in about ten years," He said.

I shrugged my shoulders at him and grinned again, "Your loss," before walking away. I had more coffee to pour.

Emma quickly caught up to me, "Thanks," She said quietly.

"No problem. I've got your back," I smiled at her and she smiled back.

At around nine o'clock, it started to get pretty busy. I was moving around more, but I was glad because it meant it didn't give Kelly time to plot anything. I barely saw Emma again, though Ty stayed in the restaurant, even though he had finished eating. I had to keep going past to fill up his coffee cup.

I walked past Kelly just as she stuck her leg out. My foot got caught, but I managed to right myself before I fell over and spilled drinks everywhere. I turned to glare at Kelly, but she didn't give me enough time to really get a glare going.

"You can serve table fourteen," She said with a smile, one I was beginning to associate with when she wanted to embarrass us. I placed my drinks down at the right table before walking over to table fourteen with the empty tray under my arm and notepad in hand. When I got closer I realised that they were of a different nationality. Their skin was darker, more olive and their hair was black. It was a family of five and their features were vaguely familiar.

Suddenly, it hit me. They had similar feature to the people I saw in Spanish magazines. Maybe they were Hispanic! I watched the father look around the room, an odd expression on his face as he listened to other conversations. He looked just like I would if I was in a country that didn't speak the same language as me. Actually, I'm pretty sure that expression was on my face all the time when I visited Germany with my father two years ago. He used to laugh at it.

Then I realised why Kelly had given me this table. She wanted me to make a fool of myself as I tried to take the order from the people when there was a language barrier. She wanted me to mess up and be embarrassed. I mentally laughed at her. When I reached the table I smiled at them.

"Español?" _(Spanish?) _I asked them.

The look of relief on the parents' faces was so obvious I nearly laughed. It was tangible. "Sí," _(yes)_ the father said, while the mother nodded.

"Bueno. ¿Qué le gustaría tomar?" _(Good. What would you like to drink?) _The spanish classes I took at school all came back to me as I conversed with this family in another language. I remember why I loved this language. It was beautiful.

"Sólo agua, por favour," _(only water please) _the mother said. I nodded and wrote it down on the notepad.

"Perfecto. Y ¿Qué le gustaría comer?" _(perfect. And what would you like to eat?)_

"Yo gustaría la jamón y huevos," _(I would like the ham and eggs) _the mother said.

"Y Yo gustaría una tortilla de tocino," _(and I would like a bacon omelette) _the father added.

"¿Puedo tener el tocino y los huevos?" _(can I have bacon and eggs?) _the eldest daughter asked. Her hair was cut short in a pixie-cut and she had bright red lipstick on. It contrasted well with her deep olive skin.

"Sí, y lo que ustedes dos les gusta comer?" _(Yes, and what would you two like to eat?) _I asked the other sister and brother. The younger sister was a polar opposite of her older sister with long wavy black hair and the son looked to be about eleven years old, his hair cut short.

The little girl smiled at me, "El tocino y los huevos, por favour?" _(Bacon and eggs please) _she asked in a soft voice. I nodded at her and wrote it down.

"lo mismo para mí, gracias," _(the same for me thanks) _the boy said.

"No es un problema. Estaré de vuelta con sus bebidas en un momento," _(Not a problem. I will be back with your drinks in a moment.) _I told them.

I turned around and started walking to the kitchen when I saw Kelly watching me. I smiled at her and her smile disappeared. Boy, did she look angry. Maybe she should have asked if I could speak Spanish first. My smile was self-satisfied as I half skipped-half walked to the kitchen with their orders. I came back to the bar, grabbed their drinks and walked back to the table. This time I was ready for Kelly when she stuck her leg out again, and I just stepped over it.

I placed a cup in front of each person before placing the large jug of water in the middle. The oldest girl automatically reached for it.

"Algo más?" _(Anything else?) _I asked them.

"No," the mother said. "Perot u español es muy bien." _(no but your Spanish is very good)_

"Gracias," _(thank you.) _I told her, pleased at the praise. I smiled as I walked to another table to take another order.

At one point I saw Lo come back in, her dad guiding her, but I was too busy trying not to mess up the orders to notice where she went next. That question was answered when I went into the kitchen to place another order and I saw Lo at the back, washing up the greasy, oily pans and plates.

"Ooohhh, unlucky," I said sympathetically as I walked over to her.

"This is so unfair," She complained, trying not to let her hair fall into the murky water. "Kelly is so mean."

"You're telling me," I told her as I pulled a hair tie out of my pocket and pulled Lo's hair out of her face and into a high ponytail. "She's tried to trip me twice this morning."

"Thanks," she smiled. "I can't wait for daddy to realise the error of his ways."

I laughed at her, "Don't you mean you can't wait for yourself to realise the error of your ways?"

"No," she said stubbornly. I shook my head at her.

"Look, I've got to go back out there. More customers to serve. See ya later," I waved to her as I walked back out the swing door.

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks for reading!<strong>

**Let me know what you think!**


	6. Chapter 6

I walked past Kelly again just as she grabbed the back of my dress and upended a can of coke down the back of it. I squealed, drawing attention from the nearby tables. When they saw the liquid, the laughed and went back to their meal. I felt my face heat up and I knew I was blushing hard.

"That's for the clam chowder, Grom," She hissed at me. I winced. I'm going to be so sticky. As I took orders, I kept getting funny looks as they spotted the coke dripping down my back and legs. I don't remember how many times I had to explain that I spilt a can of coke on myself before people stopped staring. It was hands down the most humiliating thing that's ever happened to me.

I spoke too soon. I walked into the kitchen and placed the dirty dishes on the sink next to Lo, muttering an apology as I turned around. Half way back to the, I felt something thick and sticky on my skin. I turned around to see Kelly pouring syrup on me, letting it drip from the container. She smiled nastily at me and I just took it, waiting for her to finish. There was no point in resisting. She stopped pouring it and I turned to leave but then she picked up a bag and reached inside. She pulled out a handful of feathers and threw them at me before pulling out more and more, making sure they stuck to me.

"Kel-ly," I groaned.

"Now we're even Grom," she said, dropping the bag and walking back outside. She paused at the door and said to me, "And now that you look like a chicken, you have to stay back here and help Lo with the dishes."

I looked at Lo who looked at me with sympathy. Just great. I walked over to her and wiped some syrup off my face. I tried in vain to get as much off me as possible, but there wasn't much I could do to improve the situation. I didn't even need a hair tie- there was so much syrup in it, it just stuck to my back and didn't move. I sighed and got to work on the dishes.

o:0:o:0:o:0:o:0:o:0:o:0

Finally, our shift was over. How I had been aching for it to be over. The scent of mayonnaise and sweet-smelling syrup mixed together and filled my nostrils, making me gag. We slowly made our way back to the dorm. I imagined we were a sight for sore eyes, all crestfallen and dishevelled.

"I have grease in my hair. And Kelly's just waiting for me to screw up. I'm never going to make it through the summer," Lo said, pulling my hair tie from her hair. From the looks of it, it didn't do much good.

"Don't worry," Emma said, looking frazzled. "If we stick together we'll be okay."

"Yeah, we've got your back," I told her.

"Thanks," She sighed. Just then Fin walked past us with Yoda ears stuck to her head. "What's with the ears?"

"Oh, you'll find out," She said ominously. Oh, no, we were about to be subjected to real Grom initiation now for sure. The beginning of the day we had to do our jobs and the seniors just made it hard for us. Now that we were done for the day, the rest of it was going to be horrible. They had plenty of time to subject us to their every whim. Dread welled up in my stomach.

We walked up the stairs and plopped down on the couches. Kelly is going to get me, I know it. That woman was possessed; she probably wouldn't take a break until we were miserable, depressed and covered in all types of yucky stuff.

I sat next to Lo just as Broseph walked up the front steps, looking absolutely fine.

"Oh, what is that smell, Bro?" He asked.

"They covered our hair in expired mayonnaise," Lo sighed.

"And I had to clean seaweed out of a bath tub," Fin complained.

"I got clam chowdered," Emma said.

"Kelly poured coke down my back and dumped syrup on me followed by some feathers," I muttered darkly.

"So, what have they done to you?" Emma asked.

"Dude, I'll tell you it's been rough," He said, sitting down next to me. "Johnny is one mean dude."

"But, you're not even dirty," Fin said.

"Hope you're hungry," Kelly said. I didn't even notice her, Ty and Johnny arrive. They placed a tray in front of each of us with a covered dish. This was not going to be good.

I looked at Ty pleadingly as he placed a tray in front of me, "I'm really not hungry."

"Sorry," he said, taking no prisoners.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Fin said.

"Wow, I really hope it's not worms and grasshoppers, those are the two things I'm deathly allergic to,"Broseph said. He lifted the cover and sure enough, there were worms and grasshoppers. "Oh no, worms and grasshoppers. I have a doctor's note right here," He said. My jaw dropped.

"What? No way, you've got to be kidding me!" I demanded.

Kelly grabbed the note and they both glared at Johnny. "Wow, what are the chances?"

"What's the big deal?" Fin asked, rubbing her hands together. "My brothers made me eat worms when I was five." She lifted a worm up and dropped it down her mouth.

"Uh, that's nast," Broseph said, leaning away.

"Okay, there's only two of them. We can do that," Emma said. We lifted the covers and I winced as I saw the two worms and two grasshoppers. I looked at Lo just as Emma gasped, "What? That is not fair!"

Their plates were piled high with worms. I felt sick.

"Oh, bad luck. Since Broseph can't eat them due to medical reasons," she glared over her shoulder at Johnny, "You two can eat his for him." She picked up Brosephs tray and put it in front of Emma and Lo.

"Oh, no I can't, I'm on a vegan diet," Lo said.

"Can you guys excuse me?" Kelly asked Ty and Johnny. "I have an important call to make. To daddy."

"Okay, okay," Lo sighed. "When I inherit this hotel, I'm totally going to have you fired."

"I don't even like touching them, and you want me to eat them?" I asked them. Kelly nodded maliciously. I sighed. "Please, please, please, tell me they aren't from the parasitic niche? They're just earth worms, right?"

Ty nodded, "Yeah, they're just earth worms."

I looked back down at my plate. At least they weren't moving. "I don't know how I feel about eating a species that has been around for 120 million years, possibly during the time of dinosaurs." I turned to Lo, "Did you know that Charles Darwin found that earth worms turn over the top 15cm of soil every twenty years?" She just looked at me.

"What is wrong with you?" She asked.

"I'm trying to put this off as long as possible," I told her. I looked back down at my plate, and then looked back up at Kelly, Ty and Johnny. "All they do is enrich and aerate the soil, and you want me to cut their lives short?" I looked back down at the worms again. "They're invertebrates. I don't know whether or not the fact that they have no back bone makes this situation better. Probably not." Then I looked at the grasshoppers and face scrunched up. I squeal and jump away whenever one jumps too close to me and now I have to put it in my mouth?

I turned to Broseph, "Did you know that Grasshoppers have two sets of wings? The hind wings are membranous while the front wings are coriaceous and not fit for flying. Females are normally bigger than the males, with short ovipositors."

"Are you feeling okay?" He asked me.

I shook my head. "I'm trying to put this off and I tend to sprout unimportant facts when I don't want to do something, or sometimes when I'm nervous." He nodded at me, backing as far away from me as the chair will allow.

I looked back down at the plate and chewed on my lip. Oh, God, I didn't want to do this. I really, really don't want to do this. But then I heard the crash of the waves, and it gave me strength. I would do it. I want to surf the office, goddamnit! And I will! Slowly, I picked up a worm and looked at it. "Sorry," I whispered to it before holding my nose and swallowing it. I did the same thing three more times.

When I was done, I wanted to puke. That was hands down, the most disgusting thing I'd ever had to do. "At least the hydrochloric acid in my stomach is strong enough to break it down."

Broseph scratched his head and squinted at me, like he was trying to remember something. "Isn't hydrochloric acid strong? Won't it burn you?"

"Yeah, but we have a layer of mucous that covers the stomach lining, so it protects our organs from it."

"Eeww," He said.

"You asked," I told him.

When we were all down, Kelly didn't even give us a chance to digest what we'd eaten, telling us to get changed into our togs before shuffling us down to the beach. We stood in front of a barrel, which also looked ominous.

"Okay Groms," Johnny said. "Your next task is one that's been a tradition for fifteen years of initiations. You will be surfing in petroleum jelly."

"We'll slide right off our boards," Broseph stated.

I turned to Lo, "Did you know that petroleum jelly was discovered in Pennsylvania in 1859 and is a semi-solid mixture of hydrocar-" she cut me off.

"I don't care, I just want this day to be over," She moaned.

"Well, on the up side, petroleum jelly was originally promoted as a topical ointment for its healing properties. During World War II, a variety of petroleum jelly, called _red veterinary petrolatum _was often included in life raft survival kits. Acting as a sunscreen, it provides protection from ultraviolent rays," I told her. Again she just looked at me. "You won't get sunburnt,' I elaborated.

"How do you know all this stuff?" she asked incredulously. I shrugged at her.

"Sounds easy enough. At least it's surfing. Pass the grease," Fin said confidently.

We lathered up and grabbed our boards, running out to the surf. The board was slippery in my hands and I kept dropping it. It wasn't a good sign. I got on my board with great difficulty, slipping off and sliding all over the place. By the time I got a good grip on the board, I was panting from the effort. But the difficulty of the task just made me even more determined.

I saw a wave, and went for it, trying to stand up and sliding off straight away. I giggled a little. This was kind of fun. I tried again, clinging to the board as I lifted my butt in the air, trying to stand. Very slowly, the wind pushed me backwards on my board and I slipped back into the ocean. When I came up to the surface I was grinning and laughing breathlessly. I couldn't control the giggles; they just burst from me in a mix of exasperation and hilarity. This was definitely fun. I thought they were meant to me torturing us. I quickly lost count of the number of times I was thrown in the water.

I climbed up again, laughing before I even fell off, though I didn't have to wait long. When I finally managed to stand up, I tried to pull an aerial, but only succeeded in jumping into the air, over the wave. I came back up, gasping for breath, sore all over. I pulled my self onto my board and let the ocean drift me back to shore. The whole time I was giggling hysterically, part exhaustion and part adrenaline.

I looked up at Ty, Kelly and Johnny, still trying to quell my laughter. "When can I do that again?" I managed to get out before laughing all over again. Kelly's face scrunched up in anger and she stomped away from me, but Ty grinned down at. He had a nice smile.

He grabbed my arm and pulled me up, "You're not meant to be having fun you know?" he smiled.

"Sorry, I'll try harder next time." Another wave of giggles overtook me and I wobbled on my feet, my legs feeling like jelly from the relentless beating they just received. The other's slowly drifted to the shore then, looking thoroughly beaten. Another round of laughter burst from my lips and soon Ty had joined me. They looked at me in disbelief. Fin caught my gaze before looking pointedly at the arm that was holding me up. The arm that happened to belong to Ty. I sobered up, the laughter finally coming to a stop and I took a step away from his arm, quickly grinning a thank-you to him. He smiled back. I looked at the others and was relieved to see no one noticed. He walked over to Kelly, followed by Johnny. They had a quick conversation.

"That…was brutal," Fin panted as she stood up and grabbed her board with the others.

"I've never eaten so much sand, man," Broseph complained.

"What's it called again when you face-plant of the front?" Emma asked, rubbing her back.

"Pearling," I said helpfully.

"Yeah," Emma said dismally.

"But, you gotta admit, it was kinda fun," I said to them.

"I'm so sore right now, I don't think I would call that fun," Emma said. I shook my head at them.

"Come on," Kelly called, leading us into the forestry. We came to the bottom of a huge hill, and at the bottom was Reef, Ripper and Lance. Reef looked so dejected I supposed he had given up searching for the office himself. In front of them was a wheel barrow packed high with watermelons.

"You each have to carry three watermelons to the top of this hill. I looked up the hill – yeah right, more like mountain – and felt overwhelmed. It was a huge hill. Then I looked at the watermelons. This was going to be hard.

"What?" Lo turned to me. "No useless facts about watermelons."

I looked at her surprised, "Actually, watermelons-"

She cut me off again, "I was kidding."

"I know," I grinned at her.

We collected up the water melons; I could hardly even lift two, let alone three! But I persisted. I back was tilted back at an odd angle and as I tried to balance the watermelons, I wobbled around. One melon tipped precariously and I stumbled back a few steps, running into something.

And by something, I mean someone. Ty reached out a steadying hand, placing it lightly on the small of my back. Tingles radiated from where his skin touched mine. I skipped out from his touch. I didn't need to go all jelly-like now.

"Woah, steady there," He said.

"Uh, sorry 'bout that."

"It's fine. Good luck," he smiled, trying not to laugh at how silly I looked, skipping around trying to steady three watermelons.

"Do you think you could say that again? I'm going to need all the luck I can get to make it up that hill," I said.

"Good luck," He grinned, still trying not to laugh. I went to walk off but before I could he asked, "Wait, I still don't know your name."

I raised my eyebrows as I realized he was right. He still didn't know my name. "Nereida," I told him.

"Nereida," He repeated.

"Uh-huh," I said, walking away. "And you can laugh. I won't hold it against you. For long," I called over my shoulder as I started my way up the hill. His deep chuckles followed me and I smiled. He even had a nice laugh.

My calf muscles screamed in protest as I started up the hill. We didn't get far before Lo dropped hers and fell down the hill, taking everyone with her. We lay in a heap, groaning, until I sat up and looked at us. I started laughing, hoping this wouldn't turn into an unstoppable laughing fit. I could have sworn I heard a familiar deep chuckle.

They rolled over and got, going again. This time I tried to balance a watermelon on my head, but it squished my neck down and hurt more than it did when I was carrying them before, so I switched back. Luckily we made it to the top the second time round. We threw the watermelons down and shouted with joy, our voices echoing down the hill.

"We did it!" I crowed, pumping my fist in the air and jumping about, doing the same thing as everyone else until Kelly called up to us.

"Get down here Groms, we have more to do," She demanded. We groaned and started down the hill.

"Girls, you follow me ad Ty, boys, you go with Ripper, Lance and Johnny. Chop chop."

Her orders were followed by more groaning and we followed behind her, we didn't get far before she stopped and turned around, pulling out four bottles of spray paint.

"You have to fight each other with spray paint until the cans run out. Any questions?" She called.

"Uh, yeah," I said, raising my hand. She folded her arms and lifted an eyebrow at me. "Do you have any purple paint?" I asked. Ty grinned and had a look.

"Sorry, only red, blue, green and yellow," He said.

Kelly glared at him, "Stop being nice to her."

I just ignored her, "Can I have the blue paint then?" He grinned and tossed me the can before throwing everyone else a can too.

"You may begin," Kelly said.

I grinned and turned around, lifting the can like a gun and laughed. "Come on, this will be fun. No one aim for the eyes though," I said before spraying Fin on the arm. She grinned evilly back at me before drawing an 'x' across my chest and stomach. I laughed and kept spraying, running away whenever they came near me. Pretty soon we were all flushed and giggling.

I shook my can and heard the rattle, aiming at Lo's hair. I pressed down on the nozzle and the spray puttered out. I shook it again and tried a second time, but it did the same thing.

"My can's empty," I called to them. They each shook their own cans before looking at each other. In unison they turned to me, evil smiles on their faces.

"Oh no," I muttered, backing away. They advanced towards me and I stumbled backwards.

"Get her!" Fin yelled and they chased after me. I screamed and turned around, running away. I rushed through the trees, jumping over branches that definitely wanted to trip me. I laughed the whole way as I heard their footfalls thump on the ground. I saw Kelly and Ty ahead and ran towards them, Emma, Fin and Lo close on my heels.

I ran around the back of Kelly and then Ty, sticking my arm out to help me turn better. My fingertips brushed along the material covering Ty's back. He grabbed my arms and pinned me to his chest, holding me there. I laughed and tried to pull away when I realized that he had trapped me.

I looked up at his eyes in shock. "Traitor!" I whispered. His eyes just danced and he laughed.

"Sorry, it was too good an opportunity to pass up," He laughed.

Emma, Lo and Fin reached me then, aiming their spray cans at me. "Noooo!" I screeched, wriggling and pulling desperately against his arms. What were they made of? Steel? My efforts were futile and I was coated in yellow red and green paint.

"No fair," I yelled, closing my eyes and giving up. They laughed and I joined in.

With my eyes closed I could feel the taut muscles of Ty's chest through his shirt and I realized that every time I bumped into him, I stumbled backwards but he didn't move. Now it made sense.

Their paint cans emptied and Ty let me go, laughing as well. If I admitted it to myself, I would say that I missed his chest against my back. But I wasn't admitting anything.

"Tyyy," Kelly whined. "They aren't supposed to be having fun," She snapped.

"Then don't make the tasks so fun!" I laughed back at her. Emma, Lo, Fin and I collapsed in a heap, giggling breathlessly.

Kelly stomped her feet again and commanded that we get up and follow her. With difficulty we managed to pull ourselves up, relapsing into giggles every now and then. I jogged a couple steps to catch up to Ty and bumped my shoulder against him.

"You weren't supposed to help them," I scolded him. The reprimand was softened by a smile, though. I wasn't really angry at him.

"And I told you, it was too good an opportunity to pass up," He reminded me. I rolled my eyes at him and slowed down, falling back into step with Fin who raised her eyebrow at me.

"What was that you said before?" She asked me innocently. "'I don't know what you're talking about?'"

I rolled my eyes and bumped my shoulder against her this time, "We're friends. What you saw was an interaction between friends, silly." I slowed down again to walk beside Lo, trying to get away from Fins probing eyes. Though I did hear her mumble something about 'if that was just an interaction between friends, then I'm a potato'. My ears were probably just playing tricks on me. God knows there was enough water in them to fill a swimming pool.

We stepped out of the forestry and back on the beach, walking over to where Reef and Broseph sat. Beside them were a bunch of shovels.

"We were just here!" Emma called to Kelly.

"And now we're back," She said snidely.

We sat next to Broseph and Reef and Lo asked, "What did you two have to do?"

They paled and Broseph said, "Nude run in a bonnet."

"Oh, rough," Fin said, repressing giggles. I had no such luck and I collapsed back on the sand, laughing as I pictured them in bonnets, running around in the lobby, and the guests' terrified faces.

"Okay, this time you each have to dig a hole for yourselves to fit in, and then you have cover yourself in there," Ty said.

"That's it?" Fin asked before shrugging. "Easy peasy." I noticed that Ripper and Lance were mysteriously missing.

We set to work, getting it done quickly as the sand was soft and easy to move. When my hole was big enough, I jumped inside and started covering myself with the sand until just my head wasn't. The others followed by example.

I saw Ripper and Lance make their way down the beach, carrying a bucket each. They reached us just as the last person, Reef, finished covering himself. They grinned before upending the buckets to reveal a bunch or crabs.

They scuttled all around us and I shrieked as one came near me. I tried blowing on it to get it to move away. Luckily it worked. Crabs were on my list of animals I don't like. My eyes were wide and fixated on their sharp pinchers that they snapped at us. I didn't look anywhere but at the crabs that came near me.

"What about Crabs?" Lo yelled. "Got any useless facts about crabs?" I just stayed quiet, staring at the crabs. Eventually they scuttled away and as soon as the last one was gone, I pushed my way out of my sand cage.

"I never want to do that again," I said as the other pushed sand around in their haste to get out.

"You have a quick break," Kelly snapped, her lips pinched together.

We made our way back to the dorm, collapsing on the wooden stair and sighing. Ripper, Johnny, Lance and Ty weren't far behind us and they stopped in front of us.

"I've got to hand it to you. You Groms are pretty hard core," Ripper said.

"Thanks," I muttered weakly. The events of the day were wearing on me and I was exhausted. I would sleep like a baby tonight.

"I am pleased to report that you-" Ripper was cut off by Kelly.

"Wait!" she said. "We still have seventeen minutes until the end of initiation. There's time for one last test." She turned and walked away and we got off the stairs, grumbling to follow her. She led us to the back of the resort to the dumpster area. I pinched my nose as soon as we got there, it spelt pretty badly. This wasn't going to be good.

Kelly pointed to the massive dumpster against the wall, "Somewhere in this dumpster is a keychain with a surfboard on it. Find the surfboard in the nest fifteen minutes or you're all out."

"What? After everything we've been through today, you do this to us! Ugh!" I yelled at her. Ripper was totally going to tell us we made it before she interrupted!

"No way. Trip or no trip, I'm not going in the garbage," Lo said, hands on hips.

"Yeah, I'm dunzo," Reef said.

"That is just nasty," Fin added.

"So ripe," Broseph pinched his nose. I looked at their crestfallen faces and decided then and there that I was going to do it. I will surf the office!

"What is wrong with you people?" I asked them. "We've gotten this far and you're going to let yourselves be thwarted by a dumpster?" incredulously colored my voice. "This day has been horrible, but I _am_ going to surf the office. And you can either help me or not," I yelled at them before preforming a perfect round off into the dumpster.

"She's right guys," Emma said. "You guys are quitting now? After everything we've gone through? We have a chance to be locals at a legendary break. A break that's only been surfed by a few people ever!"

"Perfect, uncrowded waves. And we'd get to surf there!" I yelled exasperatedly.

"Are you really going to let a little stinky garbage get in the way of you and the best waves in the country? Because I'm not," Emma said, reaching up her hand for me to full her up.

"Me neither," Reef yelled before joining us in the bin. I grinned at him, and then turned to the others, "Come on!"

"We already reek," Fin said, also joining us.

"Girl makes some sense. Woooo!" Broseph yelled before jumping high enough that he hit the wall behind us. He slowly slid into the dumpster. I looked at Lo and held out my hand to her.

"What the heck," She said, walking over to us.

"What?" Kelly yelled.

She gripped my arm and I pulled her up with only a little difficulty. Obviously those watermelons had strengthened my muscles.

"Seriously?" Emma asked. I hugged Lo to me; I was proud of her. This was a big step for her.

"Anyone who loves surfing that much deserves to see the office," Lo said.

"Plus, it'll totally tick Kelly of if we find it," I added.

"Now dig people," Lo ordered. We burrowed down into the garbage and we didn't have to search long. "I've found it!" Lo yelled. We jumped up and yelled triumphantly into the air. We did it! We did it! Take that Kelly!

"Way to go guys," Ripper, Lance and Johnny said, joining in our victory.

"Congratulations guys,' Ty clapped. "You've all officially passed initiation."

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get worked!" Reef yelled.

The seniors showed us to the office, pointing out the path to us. I don't know how we missed it. Kelly went back to the dorm, clearly pissed off. The thought made me smile even wider. This time when we stepped out of the forestry, we were met by the most beautiful beach. It was every bit as spectacular as the legends claimed. The water rose in pristine, completely empty waves. No one was around. We took off towards the water, letting it wash away the memories of this day. I looked back at the beach and saw Ty. He smiled at me and I smiled back.

We kept surfing until the sun lowered in the sky and the water looked orange. We sat on logs around a bonfire and right behind us was a waterfall. This was the most perfect place.

"This totally makes it all worth it!" Emma cried as we sat there. "Even if we do smell like old fish."

"Yeah, and it wasn't even that bad," Broseph added.

"Oh come on, Johnny front desk guy went totally easy on you," Fin said in annoyance.

I sat next to Fin, closest to the log the seniors were sitting on, and on the other side of Fin was Reef. Lo, Emma and Broseph sat on the log next to reef.

The fire wood crackled and I felt happiness flutter about in my chest.

"Where is Johnny front desk guy?" Reef asked. On the log next to me sat Lance, Ty and Ripper with a guitar in his hands, in that order.

"He's paying for letting Broseph off easy," Ty said, bumping fists with Lance. I wondered what they had him doing. I listened to Ripper strum the guitar quietly. I got up and walked over to sit next to him. Music was the key to my soul, aside from surfing. Music always transported me to another place, another time. The story the song recites becomes my story, and I can never help myself from joining in.

"How long have you been playing?" I asked him.

"A couple years," He said. "It's kind of been an on and off thing."

"You're good. Do you take requests?" I said.

"Depends on what it is," He grinned.

"Do you know the song 'Mean', by Taylor Swift?" I asked. I seriously doubted it.

But surprisingly he laughed and nodded, "Yeah, I know it. I have a little sister, you know. But if I play it, you have to sing it."

This time I laughed, "Uh, I don't think so. Not if you want to keep your eardrums intact." Ty grinned at me and I thought it was going to drop when Fin decided to speak up with her big mouth.

"She's lying," She called over to us. "She's a great singer."

I rolled my eyes at her, "How would you know that? Better yet, what has made you delusional enough to believe that?" I called back to her.

She grinned in a cat-that-got-the-cream king of way. "I heard you in the shower this morning," She said triumphantly. My smile disappeared. Well, I'm never doing that again. No more singing in the shower for me.

"You've got us interested now, Sheila," Ripper said. "Sing it for us."

"No, I don't think so."

"Come on, the cat's out of the bag now," Ty said, wiggling his eyebrows. "You have no choice."

I looked at him, then at Fin, then at Emma, then Lo, Broseph and Reef. Their faces were expectant and a little demanding. I glared at Fin, "Traitor." She just continued to smile.

I pursed my lips, deciding what I would do. Finally, I sighed heavily. "Fine. But just remember when you're all in the infirmary because your ears are bleeding, that I told you so!"

I took a deep breath and Ripper started to play. He was actually really good. Each strum of the guitar brought into its melody and the words fell from my lips. As I sang I thought of what we had been through today. What we did to get here and I felt proud of us. We did it!

In the end, it was totally worth it.

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**And thanks for your constant support AnaleighJames!**


	7. Chapter 7

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

The jagged and shattering death knell woke me from a serene sleep. Okay, so maybe I was exaggerating; it wasn't really jagged and the only shattering it did was as the source of my evaporating dream. The memory of my dream faded and with it went the happy feeling in my stomach that meant it was a good dream. And, I suppose I wouldn't describe the insistent beeping as a death knell.

I rolled out of bed and stumbled my way to the dresser, pulling out my bikini and short denim shorts, feeling more awake with each passing second. The alarm didn't scare the crap out of everyone this time and I theorized that it was because we now knew what sound it made. Instead of falling out of bed, Fin sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Emma and Lo stirred and sat up, yawning at exactly the same time.

My smile grew as I slipped into my swimmers. Day three of resort life and we were already setting up a morning ritual. "Ready to surf the office?"

Emma jumped up, excitement replacing her previous fatigue, "Absolutely." I watched her run to the dresser to grab her clothes and laughed.

"In a hurry?"

"I just don't want to waste any time," She said.

Fin jumped up and followed Emma's example, "Yeah, I want to have as much time to surf as I can before we punch in."

At the top of the stairs we met Broseph, Reef and Johnny, who obviously had the same idea as us. Greetings were exchanged as we made our way down the stairs, grabbing our surfboards and following the path that led us to that legendary surf spot. The office.

It really had been worth all the horrible – and fun at times – tests we had to do. I stopped on the white sand beach and stripped off my denim shorts, deciding not to bother wearing them on the way down anymore. Everything about this place was pristine and perfect. The sun-warmed sand, the liquid blue crystal waters, the swell of double overhead waves. The beach was completely empty of tourists and guests. This was our secret place – our sanctuary.

I ran to catch up with the others, not even noticing that shouts of happiness escaped my lips and mingled with their voices. Cool water lapped up my legs and splashed on my body as I dived on my surfboard and paddled out to a wave. It felt good. Natural. This morning and afternoon tradition of surfing was becoming a part of me and I knew when this summer ended, I would be sad to see it go.

I surfed with a passion, throwing out tricks and taking note of the familiar tense and release of my muscles as I systematically preformed each one. With surfing hard comes the feeling of exhilaration as I successfully landed those tricks. And like all forms of exercise, adrenaline also pumped through my body, making me feel unstoppable and untouchable. My body easily fell back into the same rhythm that it has had memorized since I first began surfing six years ago.

I glided across the waves the air and wind pushing my ridiculously long hip-length hair out of my face and the corners of my eyes watered a little. As I spun my board around I saw Emma and Lo sitting on their boards in the shallower water, away from the waves. Emma waved and I started to move toward, wanting to be a part of their conversation. Fin obviously had the same idea and in less than a minute we were sitting together.

I looked at them, these three girls who had become my friends in the short span of three days. Fin, with her crass and fiery attitude whose presence made me braver and outspoken. Her attitude had rubbed off on me and I felt louder and less yielding. Lo, with her spoilt demeanor but nevertheless generous and approachable disposition. She may be a millionaire's daughter, but she was a millionaire's daughter who saw the importance and irreplaceable company of good girlfriends; something I was beginning to see. She was the epitome of the word 'girlfriend' and through her I saw what it was to be a friend. And Emma, with her sweet goodness and innocence that gave me something to be protective of. Her 'younger' persona and inexperience she displayed through the workings of life made me step up and show her that she had it in her to be herself to be confident and not look to others. Her wide brown eyes made it hard to deny her anything and I would probably always think of her happiness before my own. She would find it soon, I would make sure, but for the time being I would be her leading light.

Distantly I wondered if they saw the effect they had on me, if they realized how important they were becoming to me. I could be myself with them.

I trailed my fingers in the water and watched it ripple outwards. It amazed me that something so powerful and uncontrollable could be affected by such a light touch.

"This is the sickest beach," Emma said in awe.

"And the best part; no tourists," Fin added. I never realized before how strong and loud her voice was. "Hey Lo, is that your brother?" Fin pointed to the shore.

Before I even realized what I was doing, my head whipped around to look where she was pointing. The morning light outlined his body and the camera in his hand as he filmed Reef surf.

"You mean the AV club president? Ty is obsessed with making surf videos; he wants to make a career out of it or something. He's such a nerd," Lo said but I couldn't tell if it was ridicule or pride in her voice.

His camera was expertly trained on Reef as he sliced through the water. What was his draw to recording people surfing rather than being the surfer in the water himself? I couldn't imagine trading my surfboard for a camera, even as an extra hobby like what Ty did. I would end up leaving the camera on the beach and racing into the water. Then a thought flashed through my mind; _a camera's film is the memory and the lens is the mirror. _Maybe the camera was just a metaphor for wanting to show the world the passion of surfing, taking not just the act of surfing itself, but what surfing was really about. And then I understood it.

"Aw, I think it's cool. It's like there's more to him than just a cute smile and nice eyes and a killer tan," Emma said, trailing off dreamily.

"Ew!" Lo said to her. "That's my brother you're drooling over."

"So, are you going to hang in the line-up until he notices you or are you going to go catch some waves?" Fin asked.

I laughed to cover my sinking feeling. Okay, I'd admit that I felt a connection to Ty. I felt comfortable around him, and I felt an impulse to be near him. In the short amount of time I'd talked to him, it just felt natural. So yes, I liked him, more than I should. The funny thing was, Fin was right; he was oblivious to the looks he got from girls – he was just too wrapped up in his own thoughts to notice. I liked him, but so did Emma, that much was clear. So, when it came down to it, whose happiness was more important? I wasn't selfish but I wasn't selfless either. Selflessness was the act of giving up something you wanted in turn for someone else's happiness. The Dalai Lama XIV said "Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them." Liking Ty would be hurting Emma. I wasn't self-deprecating but was it wrong to want your friend to be happy. Especially when previously in my life real friends had been hard to come by. I could curb my interest in him. That was the good thing about having only Fin suspect something – you could pretend otherwise. And it wasn't like I was in love with him, like my life depended on having him as my boyfriend. I wasn't about to let a minimal attraction come between Emma and I. I'm not saying it would, but why do I have to risk it? Emma's friendship is important to me. It would just be easier if Emma was alone in her pining for Ty. Not that I pine anyway. And soon enough, Ty would realise how great Emma was.

But that doesn't mean I can't be friends with him. Or talk to him. Friends talk, don't they?

"They look a lot bigger out here than they did on the beach. Why do they call this place the office anyway?" Emma asked nervously.

Lo and I looked at each other. "Because if you bail…" I said.

"…You're gunna get worked," Lo finished.

"Hard," Fin added. Emma grimaced nervously and Fin started making chicken sounds at her.

"Okay, okay," Emma said before paddling to a wave. We sat there and watched her, seeing what would happen.

She made it about half way up the wave before her board slide out from under her feet and she was thrown in the water.

"Ohhh," I said, wincing for her.

"Worked," Lo said.

"Totally worked," Fin agreed.

"Ladies," Reef said as he passed us on his board. He flashed a grin at us and I couldn't help but notice it was mainly directed at Fin. Hhmmm.

Emma's head burst through the surface of the water beside us and she spluttered, coughing up water, "Did he see me?"

"Fortunately, no," Fin said. "Come on, we still have time before work."

Emma and Lo followed her out. "I think I'll head back to shore," I called to them. They waved in acknowledgement and I paddled back until the water went up to my hips. I hopped off my board and tilted my head back before dipping under the water, pulling my hair back. Grabbing my board, I walked for the shore.

I walked across the sand and plopped down, letting the sun's rays dry me. My hair hung in stringy tendrils down my back, the shorter parts curling on my shoulders. My father had shown me pictures of mum, before she was pregnant with me. She always had long spiralling tresses that reached her lower back. It was why I could never bring myself to cut my own hair. And once I became accustomed to it, cutting it off would mean cutting off a part of me. It was another connection to my mum and I embraced it as my own.

The sun reflected off the water and I watched Fin, Lo and Emma surf, or in Emma's case, attempt to surf. She was getting good though. I didn't even notice Ty until he had sat next to me and snapped the side panel of his camera shut.

"Hey," He said.

"Hey," I smiled back. We sat there in comfortable silence before I blurted out, "Why do you film people surfing?"

He looked at me, surprised. "You know, I think you're the first person to ever ask me that." I lifted my eyebrows at him. He shrugged his shoulders before continuing, "I can't explain it, I just want to capture what surfing is. I want this camera to store what surfing really is. It's…I can't explain it."

I nodded at him, "I know what you're trying to say, I think."

"You do?"

"Yeah. Surfing isn't a sport and anyone who thinks that is wrong. When people call it a sport, it takes away the personal and sometimes subtle interaction people have with the natural environment. The sport of surfing is actually the reverse of surfing and the media has distorted the essence of what it is. Competitions, competitions, competitions, all the time. Surfing is not a lot of things; it's definitely not dry or clear-cut, it's not comfortable or organised, it's not easy or predictable. Real surfing doesn't have people organising you, it's one of the most immersed -in-nature activity you can do. It's solitary and addictive and full body and full on senses _and _it can be dangerous.

Real surfing is about the wave. About the shape of the wave, riding the wave, feeling the wave, dancing with the wave and being a part of the wave. Surfing requires you to be at home in the water; you have to be able to feel what's going on around you. The natural peace of the water, it's sounds, it's movements, the hypnotic sparkles when the sunlight shines on it. It's about being as much as one with the sea as you can be, to flow with it. _That's what surfing is. _And I think that's what you try to capture when you film people." I said, surprised at myself.

"That's exactly it," Ty smiled. Then he ruffled my hair, "Who knew you were so philosophical."

"Not me," I laughed.

"Do you think I could record you saying that?"

"I don't remember what I said," I laughed again. It was true. All of it had just come rushing from my lips, I didn't even think about what I was saying. Out on the water I saw Emma, Lo and Fin start to make their way to the shore. "I have to go," I told him. "I don't want to be late for work."

I got up and walked to the edge of the sea, watching the foam circle my ankles. I looked up just in time to see Fin splash water at me, drenching me down my front.

I looked at her. "I just got dry," I complained.

She laughed at me, "Come on, we're going to be late."

We walked back to the dorm, chattering happily. It was cooler surrounded by all these trees; they blocked the heat from the sun and only some of the rays were able to filter through and reach the grass on the path.

I grabbed a towel that hung over the wooden railing of the porch and dried myself off as best I could, glaring at Fin who didn't even bother to look remorseful. We raced along the path to the resort, hoping we were running late by Bummer's watch.

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	8. Chapter 8

"Coming through!" I heard Emma yell as she pushed the swing door open, carrying plates laden with food. Lo trailed behind her, absolutely no help and drink a milkshake that was probably meant for a guest. I snorted before quelling my laughter and settled for rolling my eyes.

I placed the plate of toast with a smilry face made out of eggs, bacon and parsley on it, in front of a little girl who was sitting very close to her mum. "Here you go," I smiled at her. "Do you know what you want to drink yet? Orange or apple?" The parents had already asked for orange juice and were sipping away at their glasses; it was just the little girl who couldn't make up her mind.

She glanced at what her mum was drinking before saying, "Orange, Please."

"Sure thing," I smiled and walked away to get her drink.

Emma walked back into the kitchen and Lo switched to following me, the Banana milkshake she had previously been drinking was now on a tray.

"Ugh, Kelly is so annoying, she keeps telling me to take people's orders" She whined.

I laughed, "It couldn't have anything to do with the fact that that's your job, could it?"

"Nereida, you're supposed to be on my side," She chided me. I moved the glass of orange juice from my tray to the little girl who grinned toothily at me; clearly she had had a visit from the tooth fairy.

"Let me know if you need anything else," I told them as they thanked me. I turned and nearly ran straight into Lo. "Sorry, I'll remember that next time."

She just ignored me, moving out the way, and then following me as I walked to another table.

"Good morning, my name is Nereida and I'll be your server this morning. Do you know what you'd like to order? Or drink?" it was a family of three.

"Well, my son would like a chocolate milkshake with the chocolate topping and chocolate sprinkles that you put on it, and my husband and I will just stick with apple juice," the woman smiled. I nodded and wrote it down, turning to the boy who looked about ten years old.

"Fan of chocolate, hey?" I asked. He grinned and nodded a yes. "Me too. The 'Devil's advocate' is to die for; it's the most chocolatey cake you will ever find," I told him. I watched his eyes light up as I told him and he turned pleadingly to his parents.

"Not for breakfast," the father told his son before grinning at me. "He's going to want to come back for dinner now."

"Sorry," I laughed. "Do you know what you want to eat?"

"I think we all are really looking forward to a steaming plate of hot pancakes with syrup," the father said. I nodded and wrote it down.

"I'll be back with your drinks in a second and I'll make sure to brink the pancakes out as soon as they're done so they're nice and hot for you."

"Thank you," the woman said. I nodded and walked off, Lo following me.

"You really have a knack for this kind of thing."

"What thing?" I asked her.

"This thing. This people thing," She said, waving her hands in the air.

"People thing?" I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Yeah, you have great people skills," She said.

"Thanks…I think," I said before rolling my eyes and pointing at the banana milkshake still on her tray. "Shouldn't you get that to the guest who ordered it?"

"Meh, they've waited this long, a couple more minutes won't kill them." I snorted and rolled my eyes. Again.

"At least you aren't obsessed with my brother. I can have a conversation without it being about him," Lo said. "Emma is crazy, I mean, it's my brother!" she said incredulously.

"You can't help who you fall for," I told her loftily as I placed the apple juices in front of the mother and father and reassured the boy I would be back in a second with his drink, a goofy smile on my face. "And if I'm not mistaken, you just brought him up."

She stared at me, her eyes wide. "What?" I asked. I reached up and touched my face, "Is there something on my face?" she shook her head. "Then what is it?" I turned to walked to the bar to get the milkshake.

"You like him too!"

"What? Oh no, no I don't."

She gasped, "You do!"

"Lo, listen to me," I placed my hands on her shoulders. "You are talking crazy person right now, okay?" I shook her shoulders a little. "I. Am. Not. In. Love. With. Him." I said slowly, punctuating every word clearly.

She grinned, "I never said anything about love."

I sighed, "It was implied."

"No it wasn't."

"Whatever. Besides, even if, hypothetically, I did have an inkling of a feeling for him, which I don't, it doesn't matter. Emma likes him," I said simply.

"When did you first see Ty?"

"What? What does that have to do with anything?" she crossed her arms and tapped her foot, waiting impatiently for my answer. "Okay, okay, don't burst a vessel. I saw him…" I looked at the ceiling, trying to remember when I first saw Ty. "Uh, it was the day I arrived. I walked into him at the Lobby door."

"So, it was before initiation?"

"Yeah, way before. Why?"

"Well, you saw him first, so you have first dibbs," She informed me.

"Dibbs? He isn't a toy," I laughed. "And that is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard."

"Is not," Lo pouted.

"Yes it is, but it doesn't matter. I don't like him like _that._ We're friends."

"Whatever you say."

"Don't tell Emma."

"Well, according to you, there's nothing to tell."

"Preciously." I looked back down at her tray. "You should really get that to the customer."

"Yeah, yeah, it'll get there," She sighed.

She followed me around for a little while longer, chattering away. God, she could talk. Weirdly enough, though, it was kind of endearing. There was something soothing about her ceaseless chatter. Finally, she gave up the pretence of taking orders and sat down at a booth, chattering away on her mobile. Kelly looked like she was going to burst. I walked towards her just as Ty walked onto the ship and paused at the doorway, looking around.

"Take a seat anywhere," I told him as I walked past, tray in hand, towards Lo. Her back was to me, so as I passed her, I turned around and walked backwards. I caught her eye and gave her a pointed look at a family seated at a table she was supposed to be covering.

I caught a part of her conversation, "_Yes_, it's hard, and Kelly..." I rolled my eyes at her and she gestured me to keep walking. I turned around and walked to my table. I tried.

I walked back to the kitchen in time to hear Emma say, "Hi Ty, how's the surf video coming along?" she balanced two trays in her hands and they wobbled precariously.

"Sorry, can't talk. Catch you later, Ella," He said, walking past her, looking intensely at a clipboard clutched in his hands. Ella? Seriously? God, he really doesn't pay attention. It made me mad that he didn't pay enough attention to get her name right. Ugh, men!

"Ella?" She said, clearly upset, just before the plates fell from her hands and shattered on the ground. I went to walk over to her but Kelly looked at me menacingly and shook her head.

"She has to do it herself Grom, I need at least one good waitress working the room," Kelly snapped.

I glared at her and went to open my mouth but Emma shook her head at me. I sighed. "Sorry," I said as I passed her just as Johnny turned up.

"Is everything okay? It sounds like a Greek wedding in here," He said.

"Oh, Johnny, have you ever really liked someone who did have a clue who you are?" Emma asked him.

"Uh, I am vaguely familiar with the concept…" he said uncomfortably, but I didn't hear the rest of the conversation because I walked into the kitchen, placing the last order I took. When I walked back out, Emma was still cleaning up glass and Kelly was talking to her. I looked around the room and saw Ty sitting at a table, still looking at his clipboard. I walked over to him.

"Hey, clearly I don't need to introduce myself, but I will be your server this morning. What can I get ya?" I asked, pen poised to paper. Ty looked up from his clipboard and smiled at me. His smile almost made me forget I was angry at him. Damn his smile.

"Hey, Nereida. Can I just get toast? And a coffee?" I nodded and wrote it down. I went to walk away but decided against it. "Her name is Emma."

"What?" His eyebrows scrunched up in confusion and a little pucker formed between them.

"Emma, the girl you just called Ella. Her name is Emma," I said impatiently.

"What girl?" he asked, confusion still on his face. He didn't even remember her! He _just_ spoke to her! Oh, that's just lovely, first he gets her name wrong then he has the _audacity_ to forget her? I shook my head at him and was just deciding the best way to bite his head off when he said, "Oh! That girl."

"Yes, that girl! How many girls have you spoken to in the last minute and a half?"

"Uh, including you? Two," he stated. God, he didn't get it.

"Emma. Her name is Emma."

"Right, Emma. I'll remember that. Thanks." He didn't blush or look away or even seem embarrassed. I wondered what it would be like to be that sure of yourself. If it happened to me, I would have blushed, stumbled on my words, looked away _and _seemed embarrassed as I apologised profusely. It was a little awe-inspiring. But he was still a butt-hole for forgetting her name.

"I'll be right back with your order."

"Thanks Nereida."

Wherever Lo had disappeared to, she was back and Kelly was making her scrape gum off the underside of the tables. I felt sorry for her, that is so disgusting.

Emma's shift ended at three and mine ended at four, so I waved to her as she walked down the ramp, away from the pirate ship. I'm pretty sure she was going to get some surfing time in. Andrew replaced her, walking in just as she left and getting straight to work. It was kind of boring without Emma there, and Lo was still under the table, paying for sneaking off earlier, so she was no fun either. I envied Emma's extra time to surf.

When it came to two o'clock, I bolted out of there as soon as I could. Lo was supposed to finish with me, but Kelly made her stay which was totally harsh of her. I waved to Lo as I walked down the ramp, the same path Emma had walked an hour before me. I saw Fin walking ahead of me and I jogged to catch up to her.

"Hey, Fin, how's it going?"

"Ugh, do you know how many people are incapable of flushing the toilet themselves?" She asked me.

"No," I laughed. "I take it there's a few?"

"Nine! Nine rooms had unflushed toilets. I don't want to see that!"

"What are you betty's talking about?" Reef asked as he and Broseph caught up to us.

"Unflushed toilets. But I'm about to unsubtly change the subject. Are we hitting up the office?" I asked.

"You know it Brah," Broseph said.

We made it back to the dorm and changed into swimmers in record time. When we got downstairs I grabbed my board and a towel.

"Let's go past the beach on our way and grab Emma," I told them.

"Why is she surfing there and not at the office?" Fin asked.

"I guess she thought that if she got into any trouble, there were life guards around to save her, in comparison to the deserted office."

"Oh. Makes sense," She said.

We made our way down to the beach and I quickly spotted Emma's pink bikini in the throng of people. She was standing next to a guy with shaggy black hair and she was laughing.

"Emma, we're going to hit up the office. Yah baby," Broseph said as he walked past her.

"I hear Ty's going to be there," Fin added, wiggling her eyebrows. We kept walking, giving her time to finish talking to the guy. She knew where we were going.

As usual, the office was deserted and looking just as pristine as this morning. We were waxing our boards as Emma joined us, along with the guy she had been talking to. I frowned at her, what was she doing? You don't just bring people along; it's reclusive to the summer staff.

"Yo Emma," Broseph said.

"What's up?" Emma asked.

"As your first surf coach, I feel like I should tell you; this is not cool bro," he scolded. Her smile faded, clearly unaware of what she did wrong.

"The office is our secret surf spot," Fin said.

"Yeah, and it's not for tourists, or kooks, or cute guys who could probably surf way better than me! Um, strike that last comment from the record," Johnny said. I was beginning to suspect that Johnny had a soft spot for Emma.

"Guys, he's not a kook, trust me. Anyway, he's just one guy," Emma pleaded.

"Killer beach dudes. Uhh, everything okay?" the guy in question said.

"Guys?" Emma looked at us pleadingly, a little upset.

I sighed, "I'm sure it'll be fine."

"It's cool," Broseph said.

"Whatever," Fin said.

"I'm just thrilled," Johnny said.

None of them meant it.

We went out to the water and I hoped the cool water would help calm some of their anger. It probably would have, if the guy wasn't such a jerk. There was only one rule in surfing, and that was don't drop in, and he was breaking it! Every time one of us tried to surf, he came barrelling past, knocking us off our boards. Anger welled up inside me. Who does he think he is? The president? Every surfer sticks to the rule!

I spotted a wave and went for, hoping he wouldn't drop in on me. No such luck. He sped past me, yelling "Comin' through." The water became choppy and I lost my balance, falling head first into the water. I winced at the burning sensation as water went up my nose. I swam back to the surface, spluttering and grabbing a hold of my surf board. I went to yell at him, but I stopped myself. How many times had I told myself just to let it go in the past half hour? Too many to count. I don't know why Emma brought him here, but she obviously didn't know _not_ to bring him. Besides, he was too far away to hear my shouted insults. It would probably make me feel better though.

I gave up and started back to shore, noticing that the others had the same idea. we paddled past Emma who sat on her board. She said something to each of us as we passed, but we were too annoyed to say much.

"Nereida, Can you give me some tips?" She asked.

"Not now," I sighed. I'd swallowed way too much salty sea -water to do any tip-giving.

We walked up the miniscule incline to the dry sand on the shore and just kept walking back to the dorm. I'd had enough of this day. we got there just as the sun collided with the horizon. Lo was waiting on the steps and when she saw our faces, she asked what was wrong.

"Alberta went and invited a guy to the office," Fin said angrily. Lo raised an eyebrow.

"He didn't even stick to The Rule," I muttered darkly.

Dinner was a quiet affair; everyone ate in silence, not saying anything to Emma, hardly even acknowledging her. Emma, for her part, looked dejectedly down at her plate and only rearranged the food on her plate with her fork. I stood up, placing my dish in the dishwasher and walked up the stairs to have a shower. We left one another to our own devices, no one in the mood for idle chit-chat. After I had scrubbed the sand out of my hair, I lay in bed, snuggling down in the soft covers and grabbed a book, content to spend the night reading.

An hour or so later, Emma walked in. she smiled at me hesitantly and when I smiled back she took it as a sign that I would talk to her. "They're really mad," she said, hurt clear in her tone. I slipped a book mark between the pages and looked at her.

"Not at you. Well, it's a little directed at you, but it's mainly at him. Everything'll be fine in the morning," I said. _I hoped._

When the others came up, ready for bed, I stopped reading and turned over, falling asleep quickly.

0:o:0:o:0:o:0:o:0:o:0

I woke approximately three seconds before the alarm went off this morning. I guess my body was getting used to the time I woke up. Or maybe it was just the brightness of the sun that woke me. The atmosphere between us was better this morning and I was glad for Emma's sake that we were talking to her properly now. Though we definitely still harboured bad feelings. We all walked slowly down to the office, glad that we were going to get a proper session in this time.

"Man, I have got to get a good sesh in before work," Broseph said.

"Yeah, yesterday was brutal thanks to wavey-mac-wave-hog," Reef said.

"Guys, I said I was sorry. It won't happen again. Maybe he didn't know the rules?" Emma called.

"Every surfer knows the code! He knows the code, Johnny here knows the code, she knows the code. You don't mess with the code," Reef said tersely.

"We know you are. At least you'll never do it again," I added brightly. She sighed unhappily. "But Reef is right. If you don't know the code, then you shouldn't be surfing."

Broseph, at the front of the pack turned his head back to us.

"Yeah, true dat," He said. As he turned his head around, he walked right into a pair of dirty boxers. "Hey, who turned out the lights?" He asked, dropping the board and grabbing at the boxers. Reef laughed at him and we just walked past. "Ugh, sick yo, get 'em off me!" he cried, throwing them on the ground.

"Um, guys?" Fin called. It didn't sound good. I walked up and stood beside her, groaning at what met my eyes. "You know that kook from yesterday? I think he multiplied."

"Oh, no! I wanted to surf this morning!" I cried.

Three guys had set up camp; a tall skinny one with long brown hair, a short, stout one with light brown hair pushed in front of his eyes and held there by his cap and the kook from yesterday. Tents were pitched and they stood around a fire.

"What's up dudes?" he called to us before turning to his friends. "See? I told you dudes this beach rocks, brah."

All eyes turned to Emma. "Uh, oops?" She said.

We stood there as the three wave-hogging, good for nothing, rule breaking kooks brought jet skis onto the water and drove them back and forth. There was no way we could surf with those beasts on the water.

"Dude, now there are _three_ wave hogs camping and surfing on our beach," Reef said.

"Wow, someone passed grade ten math," Fin sarcastically quipped.

"These dudes are howlies, which means they aren't welcome," Broseph said angrily. Or as angrily as someone as laid back as Broseph could be.

"Why are there a bunch of kooks on our waves?" Ripper's Australian accent reached us and we turned to see Johnny, Ripper, Lance and Ty standing there. We hadn't even heard them turn up.

"Do they work at the hotel?" Lance asked.

"I don't think so mate," Ripper said, as one of the kooks chucked an empty can into the water as he surfed. "They don't look like the kind of blokes we'd give the keys to the office to."

"Who are those guys?" Ty asked us.

"Friends of Emma's," Reef said, pointing to her.

"What? No!" she said just as the kooks walked out of the water towards us.

"Brah, I totally owned that wave," the head kook said to the other kooks.

"Hey man, think you can surf somewhere else? This is kind of a private beach," Ty asked. It was way more polite than the version I had planned, which involved a lot of swearing and cussing, enough to make a sailor blush.

"Yeah, you know, locals only. We grew here, you flew here," Johnny added.

"Well, we just set up in this locale, which makes us locals too. Now, if you don't mind, we're going to go catch some tasty waves, then some tasty breakfast," the head kook said.

Ty angrily walked up to him, standing right in front of him, "I don't think so."

"We got a problem, Brah?" head kook asked.

Reef walked up and stood behind Ty, "He's not your Brah, Brah," He said. "I've got your back dude," he put his hand on Ty's shoulder.

"Who's got yours, big hair?" he asked, as his two other kook buddies walked up behind him.

Broseph silently walked up behind Reef.

"Hey, who you calling big hair, chicken legs?" Reef retorted. I watched Ty tighten and clench his fists like he was about to throw a punch.

They all glared at each other and any second now, one would snap and start a brawl. Okay, this was getting way out of hand. As much as I wanted those kooks to get the snot pounded out of them, violence was never the answer. It was ridiculous to get into a brawl over a beach, even one as perfect as this. I had to put a stop to it.

I walked up to them, placing one hand on Ty's chest and one hand on the kook's chest. Ty's felt better. "Okay, enough with the testosterone already, I think we all got the whole me-Tarzan-you-Jane thing, so how about you step off?" I gave them a little shove each before turning to Ty. "Hey, look at me," I said, grabbing his chin and pulling his face to look at me. His skin felt a little rough, like he had shaved it recently but it was beginning to grow back. Stubble, i realised. "You're better than this Ty. Just let it go."

"Yeah, listen to your woman," the kook said. I clenched my jaw and continued to look at Ty, convincing him not to fight. "You know I heard this joke the other day. 'How many men does it take to mop the floor?'" the other kooks shrugged and I turned to look at them. "'None. It's a woman's job'" He stated. My jaw dropped.

"That's it!" I screeched. "I'm gunna deck ya!" I lunged forward but strong arms wrapped around my waist and I didn't get close enough to punch the git in the face. The arms lifted me up, my back pressed to his chest. I kicked my legs out, yelling. "Let go of me so I can punch this good-for-nothing, wave hogging KOOK!" I spat, trying to get free. The kooks just laughed.

Emma ran up between us and I stopped thrashing my arms about so I wouldn't hit her. I still wanted to punch him, but Emma's appearance had given me time to cool down. Wasn't it just a moment ago when I thought violence wasn't the answer?

"Woah," Emma said, putting her hands up in the same way I had, but this time she stood between me and the kook. "Okay, come on. I'm sure he didn't mean it, and there's lots of beach to go around. Right? Guys?" Emma's eyes locked on mine. She didn't want me to fight.

I sighed angrily, "Fine. You can put me down now." Ty set me on my feet and I walked away, muttering darkly. I stopped and stood next to Fin, who looked angry as well.

The situation in front of me dispersed and I heard the kook say, "Okay, let's get this party started."

They all tried to go about business as if the kooks weren't there. Fin walked to the water, attempting to surf. I wished her luck, deciding to stay on this beach in this exact spot lest anger took over me again. I kicked up some sand before plopping down.

"Shoulda punched him," I muttered.

"Wasn't it you who told me to let it go?" Ty asked.

I pursed my lips and shook my head. "Nope, I don't remember saying that," my eyes trained on a kook and I glared.

He sighed and sat down next to me. "We're you really going to hit him?"

"Were _you_ really going to hit him?" I retorted, and then bit my tongue. No need to take my anger out on Ty; he's not the pone I'm angry at. "Probably," I sighed.

He raised an eyebrow at me. "Impressive."

"Why? You were going to do the same thing," I stated.

"Yeah, but you're – "

I cut him off, "If you say 'a girl', I swear I'll – "

He cut me off, "I was going to say you're always smiling. I wouldn't peg you for someone who'd punch someone's lights out. Because that's what you looked like you wanted to do."

"Oh."

There was a pause, then, "Would you really hit me?" he grinned.

I sighed, "Maybe in the arm."

"That's a comforting thought," He said sarcastically.

"I wouldn't hit you _hard_," I said. I sighed again and laid back on the sand, stretching. "I really wanted to surf this morning."

"Yeah, I really wanted to get some more filming done."

"Well, Ripper's out there, maybe you can still film him," I suggested.

"Maybe later."

I sat up, "I've just decided, I'm not going to let a bunch of kooks stop me from being in the water. I'll see you later." I got up and waded out to a deeper section of the water and swam under water, brushing my fingers along the sea bottom before coming back up. The cool water washed away some of my anger, but it was still there, simmering just below the surface. I laid back and floated on the surface of the water, closing my eyes and relaxing each part of my body. I got about two minutes of peacefulness before I heard a rumbling and opened my eyes to see a jet ski in front of me. I closed my eyes just in time before water was sprayed on me. Another jet ski passed close by me, doing exactly the same thing. I couldn't take it anymore!

I wiped my eyes and made my way angrily to shore. I scowled all the way up the beach and I plunked down next to Ty, crossing my arms and still scowling.

"That didn't last long."

"I just want them gone," I snarled. I sat there, frowning and scowling at each kook. Ty got up and decided to take my suggestion, but ended up next to me again, gripping a wet and clearly broken camera in his hands. I wasn't the only one scowling after that. The others made their way back to shore and we walked back to the dorm. Emma was nearly in tears.

"It's fine," I sighed at her, walking beside her. Lo was walking on her other side. The other were ahead of us and got back before us.

We arrived and leant our boards against the wooden railing in time to hear Reef say, "It's official, those Benny's have totally ruined the world's best beach."

"Yah, bro," Broseph agreed.

"I know, they are so such jerks," Emma said, looking hopefully at the others. They just got up and walked inside, ignoring her.

"Ohh, the silent treatment. Standard punishment for breaking the office code of secrecy," Lo explained.

Lance and Ty walked up last, Ty trying to see if his camera still worked.

"Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for those guys to crash the office," Emma said miserably. "Ty, you're not mad are you?"

"No, not mad Emma, just kinda disappointed," he said. Ouch.

"Ouch," Emma sighed.

"At least he got your name right this time," Lo said brightly.

I sighed and walked up the stairs to get ready for work.

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks for reading!<strong>

**Saw a bit of temper there, didn't ya?**

**Review and let me know what you think. :)**


	9. Chapter 9

I went to work, thoroughly pissed off. Not at Emma though, at the kooks. At those sexist, good for nothing, code breaking –

I stopped myself before I snapped at a customer. They didn't deserve my anger. I took a deep calming breath before walking out of the kitchen with my tray of plates sitting comfortably at my shoulder. Once I had gotten the hang of it, it really wasn't that hard.

It had quieted down and there weren't many people in the restaurant. We were setting the tables for the lunch customers now and now that my anger had fizzled down, I felt less like throwing a plate at the floor and ranting. I sighed. If I threw a plate at the floor I would probably feel better. But Kelly wouldn't.

By eleven thirty lunch customers began coming in in steady streams. We rushed around taking orders as it got busier. I was on my way to take the order of another table when a woman waved her arm at me. I walked over to her and she pointed angrily at the plate in front of her son.

"One of the waitresses gave my son a peanut butter sandwich," she said, outraged. I frowned at her, confused. So?

"He has a peanut allergy!" She elaborated.

"I'm so sorry!" I gasped, removing the plate from the table. I looked up and locked eyes with Emma, who seemed to have the same problem as me. We both turned our eyes to Lo as she stood by the entrance, filing her nails. We moved towards her.

"Lo, the lady on the north beach diet says you gave her a cheeseburger," Emma said.

"She looked hungry," Lo replied, bored.

"You also gave a peanut butter sandwich to a kid with a peanut allergy," I said, annoyed.

"And a double latte to a five year old. You have to fix this before Kelly catches on," Emma added. I shoved the plate with the sandwich on it into her hands and walked off.

It couldn't have been fifteen minutes later when Broseph rolled a long table covered with food on it, up the draw-bridge ramp and into the restaurant. "Uh, somebody order room service?" He asked.

Lo ran over, "Over here. Okay, food's ready, come and get it," She called to the customers. She had to be kidding, right? This was a restaurant; if they wanted room service, they would have stayed in their rooms! Kelly glared at her, she was in trouble now. "Oh, crud," and she knew it. I shook my head and moved away from them, continuing to take orders. You're on your own, Lo, I thought. She brought Kelly's wrath down upon herself, all by herself.

Today, our shift ended at three, so we hurried back to the dorm as quickly as we could before Kelly started spitting fire and burning holes in the wall. It had been a fairly quiet day and Emma hadn't dropped a single thing. Fin was there, waiting on the porch when we got there and we went upstairs so Emma, Lo and I could get rid of these horrible uniforms.

We changed as quickly as possible; Lo into her yellow dress, Emma into her pink shirt and pink shorts and me into my purple t-shirt hoodie and denim mini-shorts. Fin was already wearing her green singlet and board shorts and she sat on her bed, waxing her board. I filled her in on the stunt Lo pulled, and we sat down; Lo laying on her stomach on her bed, Emma sitting on her bed and me on my own.

"I don't see why Kelly went so postal. Everybody got their food," Lo said. I rolled my eyes at Fin.

"I served so many crab cakes today, I actually smell like one," Emma said, reclining on her bed.

"Yeah, that's not crab cakes," Fin said slowly, as Emma began sniffing. She jumped up and pulled her covers back to reveal her bed covered in fish heads, smelly liquid seeping into her sheets.

My face scrunched up in horror, "That's disgusting."

"Eww," Emma cried.

"Eww, you got fish headed," Lo said.

"Fish headed?" Emma asked.

"The ultimate local punishment for revealing secret surf spots," Lo said, inspecting her nails.

"I tried to stop them," Fin said. "And I managed to talk them out of filling your locker with seaweed."

Emma walked over to her locker and opened the door. As soon as she did, a bunch of squids fell on her, as if the locker had been jammed full.

"They went with the squid instead," Fin said.

"I can't spend the whole summer with everyone hating me," Emma said. "I have to make this right."

"What are you going to do?" Lo asked.

"The only thing I can do," she said, walking to the door. "Run those jet ski racing, wave hogging cheesy kooks off our beach."

"You forgot good-for-nothing and sexist," I called as she ran off.

"Yeah, you get those barney's!" Fin called.

"Good luck," I said to myself.

"She is gunna need it," Fin said.

I sighed, "I'm going for a walk."

"Why?" Lo asked.

"Why? Because I can't surf! I need to move around otherwise I'll end up snapping at somebody," I told her.

"You could just surf on the regular beach," Fin said.

"I know, but it's not the same. The office was perfect," I sighed. "It's alright, I want to go for a walk though."

I grabbed my Ipod and my book, waving to them as I walked outside. I walked down to the regular beach, content for the moment just to walk along it. Wind blew my hair around my face and every now and then I was sprayed with droplets of sea water. I moved further away from the water and put the ear buds into my ears, thinking that some Bon Jovi would help sooth my frayed temper. I wasn't angry at Emma, I was angry at those kooks. I just wanted them gone.

Before I knew it, I had wandered close to the resort and the sight of the sixteen story building gave me an idea. I jogged up the front and into the Lobby, spotting Johnny behind the front desk.

"Hey Johnny, do you know where Bummer is?" I asked him.

He looked surprised at my request, but nevertheless told me, "He's in his office."

"Thanks," I smiled. His office wasn't hard to find, it had a large plaque on the front reading 'Andrew Baumer, Day Manager'. I knocked three times before waiting. The door swung open surprisingly quickly.

"Yes? What do you want?" He asked, not unkindly, just like he had a lot on his mind.

"Um, I was wondering, are the summer staff allowed to use the pool?" I asked. He levelled his gaze at me.

"Are you a guest?"

"Well, it depends on how you look at it," I say innocently. He sighed and ran a hand down his face.

"The pool is a guest facility, which means it's for-"

"Please? Please? Just this one time? I'll never ask again, heck, I won't even tell anyone. Please?" I clasped my hands in front of me in a pleading gesture.

"There's a perfectly good ocean just outside."

"I know, but I want to use the pool," I said stubbornly.

He sighed again and looked back into his office, his eyes distant. He obviously had a lot to do, and I was wasting his time. "Fine," he snapped. "But if I hear about one discrepancy from you, I'll -"

"You won't, I promise. Thank you," I called down the hall.

I didn't have to go back to the dorm because I had taken to wearing my bikini under my day clothing, just in case. I mean, who wouldn't practically live in their swimmers when they were living next to the ocean?

The pool looked nice and clean, and there were people milling about, content to let the day pass them by. Kids splashed in the water and a couple were swimming laps. I found a quieter section of the pool and stripped off my shirt and pants before sitting on the cement edge of the pool, dipping my legs in. The water was cool on my calves and feet and I swung them back and forth, watching the water get stirred up. I was beginning to see why the people lounging on the chairs were happy to just sit there all day. I leant back on my hands and tilted my head up to the sun, basking in its warmth. The sun and the water were a startling contrast but they existed together perfectly at this moment.

With my eyes closed and my legs still, I could hear and feel everything properly. High pitched laughter that could only belong to a child, the splash of water against water and skin, giggling behind me as girls laughed and talked together, the water turbulent from all the movement, like mini waves against my legs, people chatting, young and old, content sighs, squeaky chairs as people moved over, the rough, hot pavement under my hands, the light colouring the inside of my eyelids red. It combined together to form a nearly indecipherable montage of sounds and touches.

Suddenly something grabbed a hold of my ankles and pulled, dragging me into the water. I screamed but it was cut short by the abrupt meeting of the water as I was pulled down. My feet touched the cool tilled pool floor and I pushed up, breaking through to the surface and spluttering, coughing the water from my lungs. I wiped my hands across my eyes to remove the water and when I opened them I was met by another set of ocean blue eyes.

"Scared ya," Ty grinned at me.

I felt a sigh of relief go through my body and I slapped him across his bare chest. "Never do that again," I told him, pulling myself out of the water on shaky arms. I sat back into the same position as before, legs dangling in the pool.

"You should have heard your scream; I think every glass item in a two mile radius shattered. I'm surprised the police haven't arrived, wondering who got murdered," his grin was a smirk and his tone conveyed his smugness.

"Ha ha, very funny," I rolled my eyes at him before splashing water at him with my leg. He just continued to grin, and he pulled himself out of the water to sit beside me. "I can't believe you did that. You very nearly gave me a heart attack," I conceded, swinging my legs back and forth.

"Opportunities seem to keep presenting themselves to me when it comes to you," he smiled and ran a hand through his hair, looking out at the pool water. I took the _opportunity _to glance at him sideways. His hair was mused up, a little spiky in places and water was dripping down his body. I looked at our legs side by side and was surprised at the stark difference in skin colour. I was one of those unlucky few who never tanned, only burned, so I was stuck with ivory skin. The choice was between paleness or redness for me, there was no chance of tanning no matter how long I was in the sun, and, sunscreen was a necessity everywhere I went. Sometimes I thought the ivory colour was beautiful, but now, sitting next to Ty in his sun-blazed glory, I wished I could tan. At this moment, my skin was an oddity that made me stand out when surrounded my tanned people, and I wished it wasn't.

I watched a droplet of water fall from his hair onto his shoulder, running down his chest. When I glanced back up I realised Ty was looking at me as my eyes trailed down his body. I averted my eyes as a flush of heat warmed my cheeks and I dearly hoped he would mistake it for sunburn.

"What are you doing here anyway? I thought staff weren't supposed to use the guest facilities," Ty asked.

I pretended to start to stand up, "Well, if you like, I can leave."

"No!" his hand shot out and his fingers wrapped around my wrist, pulling me back down. "That's not what I meant."

I laughed, "I know. I managed to cajole Bummer into letting me have this special one-time opportunity. I don't think I'm supposed to let on that I'm here, so if anyone asks…" I trailed off.

"I never saw you," he replied.

"Exactly." There was a comfortable silence as I slowly brought my feet to the surface of the water and then dropping them back down before doing it again. "How's your camera?"

"I took it apart to let it air out and dry, so we'll see. Luckily those idiots didn't manage to wreck my footage as well." His eyebrows quirked into a scowl.

"That's good. You won't have to start from scratch then."

"Yeah."

"How long have you been making these videos?"

"About three and a half years."

"Wow, that's actually a long time. And when did you decide you wanted to make a career out of it?"

He looked at me and frowned, "How did you know I wanted to make a career out of it?"

I raised an eyebrow at him, "You have a sister who is one of the biggest talkers ever. It was bound to slip out."

"She talked about me?" He asked, surprised.

"Yeah, but then she called you a nerd, so it wasn't exactly a complement," I laughed.

"Yeah, that sounds like Lo."

"Don't worry, I don't think you're a nerd," I smiled.

"Then what do you think I am?"

I shrugged and thought about it; the effort and enthusiasm he displayed when he filmed was obvious. "Passionate, I suppose." Then my eyes widened when I realised he could take that a different way than how I meant it.

But he just laughed, "That's a surprise. I was thinking more along the lines of determination bordering on obsessive."

Of course he wouldn't take 'passionate' to mean anything other than enthusiastic and fervent. And that was the way I meant it too; passionate about surf videos. Not passionate in the sense of kissing and…what comes after kissing. Good god, I was pathetic; I couldn't even think the word to myself. Not that I was thinking about…that word… and Ty as the same thing. Because I wasn't; I wasn't even thinking about kissing him. Well, I am now but that was only because I thought about it. Oh, God, I wasn't making any sense.

I realised that he was looking at me expectantly, like he was waiting for an answer. What had we been talking about? He continued to look at me and I felt like an idiot. I must look like an idiot to him. What in the world had we been talking about?

I laughed to cover up my lapse in memory, "Heh, yeah." He seemed to take that willingly; he wasn't looking at me like I was a freak, so I must have passed. Big sigh of relief right there.

He looked behind me and spotted the book I'd forgotten I had brought with me.

"What are you reading?"

"It's called 'Divergent by Veronica Roth'."

"Is it any good?"

"Yes! It's amazing! And it's so different from everything else I've read," I gushed.

"Do you read a lot?"

"Yeah, I'm a bit of a bookworm. I have three bookcases at home filled with books; my dad calls it book-land," I rolled my eyes. "But when you travel around a lot, to places where you don't know anyone, it's just easier to retreat back into a familiar book. And sometimes, certain books make me remember the places that I read them; like, I have this book called 'Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick'. I remember that I read that book in Spain last year when we went there for dad's job, he's an investment banker. I remember sitting under a tree in the courtyard of our apartment and I remember the smell of honeysuckle flowers."

"That's cool. Do you travel around a lot?"

"Yeah, for his job. I don't think we've lived in one place for more than seven months, and we've been around the world many times."

"Does it bother you, not having a permanent residence?"

"Well, we do have a house in Churchill, but we not really there much. My dad never wanted to leave me with nannies or babysitters or anything, so he took me with him; so it was both good and bad. Good, because I was always with my dad and because I've seen of much of the world, but bad because I could never get attached to anything or anyone because I knew we wouldn't be around in the next couple months. It's hard to have best friends when you never see them; you can stay in touch and email on another, but eventually the messages stop coming. But that's changing now."

"What's changing?"

"Well, dad said we aren't going to travel for at least the next two years; we're going to remain in Churchill because of school. He says that it will be too hard on me to be moving around so much in my final stages of schooling; they're too important. So me and dad are staying in Churchill."

"Where have you travelled? It must cost a lot to be constantly moving?"

"I have been everywhere and anywhere. London, Paris, Berlin, Switzerland, Cadiz, Barcelona, Pisa, Rome, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Tokyo, Shang Hai, the Philippines, California, Florida. But we've spent a lot of time in Spain, France, Italy and England, and my dad is originally from England anyway. You don't know this obviously, but we're well off, like _really_ well off. I come from a family of money, and my dad earns a lot from his job, so money is never an issue."

"If you're rich, why are you working a summer job?" He looked confused.

I shrugged my shoulders, "The independence, I guess. It's something that my dad's money couldn't really influence when if he's not here. I wanted to prove to myself that I didn't need the money, that I could survive without it. I've come to realise though, that that's a ridiculous idea; my heritage and everything that goes with it is a part of me, it's who I am, so it's like I'm running away from myself. I like the fact that I'm earning my own money, it gives me a sense of freedom and accomplishment, but I'm not trying to get away from something anymore."

He gave me a funny look. "What?" I asked.

But he shook his head, "Nothing. So, where is your dad now, then?"

"In Russia. What's with all the questions?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "I just want to know you."

"I've been yabbering on for the last half hour about myself. That is stopping now, so stop asking questions," I told him sternly.

"So I can add bossy to the list, right under independent?"

I snorted, "I am not bossy."

"Well, not all the time, just sometimes. If you've been to all those places, how many languages can you speak?"

"I said no more questions!" I pushed him in the pool then scrambled up so he couldn't grab my legs.

He came back up to the surface, laughing, "That wasn't fair."

"It had to be done. Come on, get out, I want to go for a walk." He floated on his back lazily and didn't move. "That's cool, you don't have to come," I went to walk away.

"Okay, I'm coming," he called, and then reached out his hand. "Help me up." I looked at his hand. Did he honestly think I was going to be able to lift him up? But I grabbed onto him anyway. His hand engulfed mine in a firm grasp and he braced his legs against the wall. Oh no.

With a sharp tug, he pulled me into the water again. As I came back up, I splashed him.

"I can't believe you did that again!" I lunged at him, wrapping my arms around his neck and pushing him down. He just swam deeper to get out of my grasp before swimming behind me and holding my back to his chest.

"Are you ticklish?" he asked. What seemed like an innocent question was definitely a threat.

"No," I said, trying to sound casual as I desperately tried to wriggle out of his grip.

"I think you're lying," he sounded smug, and he probably had that smirk on his face again.

"You think, or you know?" I quipped. He ran his fingers lightly along my stomach and a traitorous giggle escaped my lips before I could squelch it.

"I know," He said. I could hear the smirk. He ran his fingers across the skin of my stomach again and if it didn't send tremors of laughter through me, I would have blushed.

"No," I gasped, the laughter making it hard for me to breathe. My stomach muscles tensed and I started wriggling even harder, desperate in my bid to escape. My arms and legs thrashed all over the place, but it was an unfair match; he was a lot stronger than me. But that didn't stop me from squirming, writhing, twisting and turning with all my might. Water splashed all over the place as I tried to get away. We were attracting attention from the other pool-goers, but that fact didn't have must sustenance in my mind; all I could think was the compressing feeling in my stomach as I laughed and yelled and gasped in air. I gasped every time he tickled me, laughter getting louder and louder until I was screaming in mirth, "Stop!"

I couldn't take much more and somehow I managed to twist around so I was facing him. I wrapped my legs around his abdomen and my arms around his neck, pressing myself against him and getting as close to him as was possible so he couldn't fit his hands between my stomach and his, effectively stopping his tickling fingers. I rested my head on my arm that was around his neck and tried to slow my breathing.

"Oh, my stomach hurts from laughing!" I cried. I felt his hands on my back, then move to my sides, and thinking he was going to attempt to tickle me again, I pressed even closer to him; legs clenching and arms tightening. His hands stopped moving and his body tensed; I felt it under my own, and I tensed too, thinking I had done something wrong. Then he let out a deep breath next to my ear and laughed.

"I think we've got an audience," this time I could hear the smile. I glanced up and noticed multiple sets of eyes on us; people had even paused half way through whatever they were doing. A blush rose to my cheeks, colouring them red and I dearly hoped it wouldn't spread to the rest of my face and neck. Heat radiated from them and I felt like my cheeks were a furnace.

"If I let go, do you promise not to tickle me," I breathed.

"Promise," He laughed.

It was only then that I realised the position I was in. I had attached myself to him, clinging to him like he was a life raft. My body was melded to his and I felt the steady rhythm of his breathing as his chest rose and fell against my own. His body was warm against mine. I blushed harder, and new that my whole face was pink by now. I unclenched my arms and legs, pushing away from him. Instantly, a rush of cold water wrapped around my stomach and I shivered at the abrupt change in temperature; his skin had been so warm and the water was so cool. I dunked my head underwater and swam back to the edge, hoping the cool water would calm the fire on my face. I hadn't realised we'd travelled so far from where we had been near the edge, to almost the other side of the pool.

I got out and watched as the people around us went back to what they were doing, some smiling, some giggling and some uncaring. I saw a bucket of clean folded towels and grabbed two, passing one to Ty and drying off as much as possible before slipping into my shorts. I wrapped my book and IPod in my shirt so I wouldn't damage them with all the water.

What was wrong with me? Friends don't do that! They don't act like that and make fools of themselves. And we were friends, Ty and me; he probably knew the most about me now, out of all the people I'd met. In less than an hour, he had me spilling a whole heap of stuff about my life. He didn't know everything about me, but he knew a lot. And then I realised that friends do do that, they just don't _react_ the way I did. Friends laugh and jump all over each other and tell each other the inner workings of their lives; they don't blush and look away and become embarrassed at the suggestive position that their body was in. I had to get away from Ty before I made an even bigger fool out of myself.

"You still want to go for that walk?" He asked me. I looked at him; the earnest in his face and the eager smile that also looked a little hesitant. He wasn't running from me, screaming about lunatics and idiots. In fact, he seemed like he wanted to go for a walk with me. He was doing the opposite of what I thought he would; instead of screaming, he was smiling, and instead of running away, he was standing in front of me, looking like he had no intention of going anywhere. Maybe I should stop presuming that I knew what he thought and wait for him to do it. Instead of making a decision on what I thought I _knew_, I should wait and see, so I _know_. I should wait for him to do something before reacting to something unknown, in a way that complicated thing.

"Sure," I smiled.

Now it was up to him how I would react.

0:o:0:o:0:o:0:o:0:o:0:o:0

The cold metal of my pendant bumped against my warm skin as we walked along the beach. I dug my toes into the sand and then rubbed my toes together, feeling the rough grainy sensation. Ty was kind enough to walk me back to the dorm, even though I had assured him I was perfectly capable of getting there myself. The sun was setting on another day and I wondered where all the time went.

As we approached the dorm, I saw Fin and Lo sitting on the porch steps. Vaguely, I wondered where Emma was, when I remembered what she was trying to do. Fin and Lo waved and I waved back before turning to Ty and demanding, "I hope you had nothing to do with the fish heads on Emma's bed, and the squid in her locker."

He looked confused for a second and then laughed, "Fish heads? Oh man, that's the ultimate local punishment –"

I cut him off, "Yeah, I know, for revealing secret surf spots. Just tell me you weren't a part of it."

He shook his head, "Nope. I had nothing to do with it."

"Good, because it's disgusting and Emma thinks you all hate her, so she's trying to get rid of those kooks."

"I don't think we hate her, we're just annoyed."

"I don't think she cleaned her sheets before she ran off; her bed is going to smell. I suppose I'll put the sheets in the wash, I hope the washing machines at least work," I muttered, more to myself.

"You're going to clean the sheets with the fish heads on them?" he asked, surprised.

I frowned, "So?"

"They're not even you're sheets," he said incredulously.

"Again, I say 'so?'. It won't kill me, besides, Emma's out there trying to run them off our beach, at least then she'll have clean sheets. And I don't want to live in a room that reeks of fish."

"That's…really nice of you."

"Don't sound so surprised, I have been known to preform one or two nice things every now and then. It's not _completely_ uncommon."

He stopped walking, "I, uh, suppose I'll see you around?" He asked.

"Yep, you'll see me, I do work in the dining room," I reminded.

"Oh, yeah. Well, see ya then," he turned and walked off.

"Bye," I called before walking to the front steps. Lo had a smug look on her face and Fin was wiggling her eyebrows.

"Is Emma back yet?" I asked, hoping to deter them from whatever they were going to say.

"Nope, and don't change the subject," Lo said.

"We weren't even having a conversation. I just got here!" I walked up the stairs to our room to clean Emma's sheets and Lo and Fin followed me. I dropped my shirt, book and IPod on my bed before beginning to strip the covers off Emma's bed. God, did it reek.

"Where have you been?" Lo asked casually, but I got the feeling it was a loaded question, one she would use against me.

"Out and about," I said nonchalantly.

"With Ty?" Fin asked.

"Maybe," I said cooling, carefully pulling off the sheets so I didn't disturb the fish heads.

"I knew it!" Lo shouted.

"Knew what?" I sighed.

"That you like my brother, though I don't know why. You can do so much better," She said.

"Lo, we've been over this. I don't like your brother like _that_, we are _friends_. It's not unheard of for a girl to have a guy that is just her friend. Tell her," I said to Fin.

"Oh, I don't know. You two did look a little cosy," She said.

"Then you need to get your eyes checked," I laughed.

"Does this still have to do with Emma?" Lo asked.

"Look, this is a non-issue, as in there is no issue to talk about, so why are we discussing this?"

"Fine, then answer this; how many guy friends do you have?" Lo said.

"Well, none, but that's not the point. You have to start somewhere, and Ty's nice."

Fin turned to Lo, "I don't know whether to believe her or not."

"Me neither. Wait, I've got it! What is Ty's favourite colour?" she asked me.

I frowned at her, "What does that have to do w –"

"Just answer the question."

I looked at the ceiling as I tried to remember if he ever told me that. Wait a minute – I think he did. Yes! We were walking along the beach on the way back to the dorm and he said his favourite colour used to be blue, but it was slowly becoming purple. I thought it was a weird thing to say at the time, because we had just been talking about surfing.

"He said that it used to be blue, but it was changing to purple," I said. "I still don't know what this has to do with anything. If you want to know his favourite colour, just ask him."

"No, that's just it! He doesn't tell people his favourite colour, he says it's a cliché thing to ask, and he doesn't tell just anybody. I think only me, daddy, mum and George know."

"Okay…"

"But he told you! That means something."

"You know, all those reports and news articles say that women read way too much into what men do and say. Maybe he just wanted to tell someone," I suggested.

She shook her head, "I don't think so. You're right though, his favourite colour is blue. But I don't know why he would change it to purple," she said confused, her brown eyes becoming shadowed.

"I know!" Fin said and pointed at me.

"What?" I asked, quickly becoming annoyed at this conversation.

"Oh, of course," Lo said.

"Of course! Why didn't I think of that?" I asked sarcastically. "Now would someone please tell me what you two lunatics are going on about? I have a bed to clean."

"Your eyes," Lo said.

I frowned at her, "What about them?"

"They're purple," She stated.

"And the clothing you wear is purple," added Fin.

I gaped at them, "So you two think…that Ty likes purple…because," I burst out laughing. I laughed so hard, I had to clutch at my sides, afraid they would split open. "That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!" I managed between laughs. "Oh, you guys are just too much."

"It makes sense," Lo pouted.

"Now it doesn't," I laughed. Then I sobered, "If you two want to discuss Ty, go ahead, I have sheets to clean. I'm not in love with Ty and Ty is not in love with me, okay? Emma likes him though, so why don't you discuss this with her when she gets back?" and with that, I picked up the bed sheets and started for the door.

"Me thinks the lady doth protest too much," Fin called to me.

"She's so in denial," I heard Lo say.

"Totally in denial," Fin agreed.

I spun back around, "Please just let it go. I like being around Ty, but that doesn't mean I'm going to go jump in line. I'm not like Emma; I don't have a crush on him. I have fun with him, that's all," I insisted.

"I still don't believe you," Lo said, "But I'll let it go."

"Thank you!" I sighed.

"Yeah, I'll let it go too. For now," Fin added.

I rolled my eyes and walked out the door. I had washing to do.

* * *

><p><strong>So, how was it?<strong>

**Thanks for reading!**


	10. Chapter 10

I walked around the dining room with the coffee jug in my hands. We hadn't gone for a surf this morning and I felt weird, like I was thrown out of whack. Emma moped around, looking thoroughly depressed. She didn't have any luck running those kooks off our beach. Lo had come up with an ingenious plan on how to get out of work, which she hadn't explained to me, so I had no idea what she was going to do or how to talk her out of it.

It was a slow morning. The highlight was probably when Ty came in for breakfast because that was when I actually had someone to talk to.

"Hey," He greeted, sitting at the Ridgmount table; his father, mother and brother had come down earlier. Mr and Mrs Ridgemount were almost complete opposites yet they were perfect for each other; anyone could see that if they paid close enough attention.

"Hey," I replied. "I'll be back in a sec." I walked to the kitchen to hang up another slip with orders on it. When I walked back out, I saw a girl eyeing Ty who in return was flicking glances at her. I couldn't read his expression.

"What would you like?" I asked him.

"Um, just coffee for now," he said.

I went to walk back to the bar when I paused. "She's pretty, do you know her?"

"What? Oh, no, I've never seen her before."

I don't know what possessed me to say this but I wished I could take the words back as soon as I said them. "She's interested in you, that's obvious."

"What? No she's not."

"Yes, she is." Why was I still talking?

"No she's not."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Trust me, she's interested."

He frowned then looked at me, squinting his eyes and concentrating. "How can you tell?"

"If a girl is interested in you?" I asked. He nodded. "Well, first off, the way she keeps looking at you, then looking back at her plate is kind of a dead give away."

"Is that the only way you can tell?" he seemed disappointed.

"Well, no. there's plenty of ways."

"What are the others?" his interest piqued.

"You really want to know?" he nodded again so I glanced around the room and spotted Kelly walk out, so I sat down. "Okay, well, she will probably laugh at your jokes, even if they're not funny; she'll tell you to take a sip of her drink; she'll ask if you have a girlfriend or she'll pry for information; she'll touch you often. And look out for flirting; most girls don't want to be obvious, so they won't. "

"Is that it?"

"No, but I'm not going to give away all our secrets."

"It would be easier if you just came out and said it," he raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, but where's the fun in that?"

He looked back over at the girl and the girl glanced up at him and when she saw him looking, she looked away and blushed. She likes him. Is there any female here that doesn't? I looked at Ty and tried to gauge his reaction. Does he like her? I felt a pang go through me at the thought. And what about Emma? This was all a mess to me. It was out of my hands. If Ty liked someone else, I couldn't change that. I couldn't tell him to pay attention to Emma, because if he didn't like her back, then he would know she liked him and it would be awkward. And it was Emma's secret to tell, not mine.

"Do you like her?" I asked quietly. His eyes widened before he frowned.

"Do you want me to like her?"

It was my turn to frown, "What?"

"You don't make sense sometimes. And you talk in circles sometimes."

"I do not," I said, outraged.

"See? That's not something to get worked up over; it's kind of funny actually."

I shook my head at him. I was so confused right now. What were we even talking about? I thought it was this girl, and if Ty liked him. I glanced over at the entrance and saw Kelly walk back in with Lo, who looked crestfallen, close behind.

"Look, just compliment her, okay? If you like her, if you don't, I don't really care, just, all I know is girls like compliments, and the girls' friends' like to hear you give compliments; it sort of boosts their opinion of you. If you know what I mean," I said quickly, getting up before Kelly saw me.

Ty shook his head, "There you go again," He smiled. "I sort of get what you mean, but I sort of don't."

"Then you're on your own. I'll be back with your coffee." I walked to the bar; hoping Kelly hadn't seen me sitting down on the job. I returned to Ty's table to a frown Ty who looked deep in thought. I poured so coffee into a cup for him.

"So, you're saying girls opinion of me is raised if I compliment their friend?" he looked so confused.

"Isn't that what I just said?" I queried.

"I have no idea," he laughed.

"Well, then yes. That is what I said." I smiled, even if he sort of missed the point, as he started to drink his coffee. "I'll see you around, Ty."

That was most definitely the weirdest conversation I've ever had.

0:o:0:o:0:o:0:o:0:o:0:o:0

When our shift ended, we went to the Office anyway. It was wishful thinking that the kooks had packed up and left. The waves looked beautiful though. We sat on the beach, dejected, with our surfboards nearby. With the heat and the calming of the waves, we were close to falling asleep. Actually, I was pretty sure the kooks were asleep, judging from their snores.

We were jolted awake though, when loud music was played and we heard a boat coming close to shore. I looked up and saw Reef, Johnny and an old man in the boat.

"I take it everything is too your liking, Mr Grizzle?" Johnny asked, when the stepped onto the sand. What was going on?

"No, it's not. There's a bunch of young punks mucking up the joint," Mr Grizzle said, walking over to the kooks. He pointed his walking cane at them, "Look at you, spoiled nancy boys with your fancy tents and sleeping bags, why, in my day we slept on shredded newspaper and when we woke up we had shredded newspaper for breakfast." He walked over to a log and groaned as he sat down. "Got any cream? My foot fungus is acting up again. You'll have to rub it in for me though, on account of my herniated bowls," he told the kooks, lifting a foot. There was indeed a gross growth of green fungi on his foot. I cringed away, grossed out.

"Dude, that was way too much info." The head kook turned to Reef, "Is this another scheme to get us to ditch your beach?"

"Nah, brah, didn't we tell you?" Reef said, looking pleased with himself.

"From now on, we're using the office to run all the senior surf tours," Johnny jumped in.

"Yeah, the soft sand is easier on their bad knees and corns,' Reef said.

"Plus, it's nice and private, let's face it, when your that old, sometimes you forget stuff," Johnny said.

"Hey, tour guides, I can't find my bathing costume," Mr Grizzle said. Oh my god! He had no pants on! He was stark naked, as naked as the day he was born. I turned away, shielding my eyes.

"Oh my god. I think I've lost vision in my eyes," I cried.

"Eww," Emma said and Fin said roughly the same thing, while Broseph covered his eyes.

"Grandpa goodies? Oh, dude," the head kook cried. They packed up their stuff faster than I thought possible. "Come on brahs, we're outtie." They ran off.

Slowly, realisation dawned on me. They were gone. Our beach was clear off kooks. Happiness fluttered around in my stomach. Yes! They were gone.

A shriek of joy left my lips as Emma ran over to Johnny and hugged him. They looked kind of cute together like that.

"Johnny, you saved the office!"

"It was a team effort," he said modestly. A small smile tugged his lips as he looked down at Emma.

"You're such a good friend! Now Ty won't hate me anymore," She said. Johnny's happy expression turned pinched.

"What are friends for?" he said. He didn't sound like he was too happy about it anymore.

"I'm going for a surf," Emma called, running to grab her surfboard. Johnny sighed. He liked Emma, but all Emma could think was Ty.

I grabbed my surfboard as well just as I heard Johnny scream, "UGH! MY EYES!" Looks like Mr Grizzle still hadn't found his shorts.

I didn't stop to help poor Johnny because the ocean was calling to me. I hadn't surfed in what felt like forever and I was surprised at how tightly I was wound. As my board hit the water though, it all melted away. I sighed, I was back. I decided not to surf hard, instead revelling in the majesty of the waves, letting it soak through me until I was placid and content. It felt so good to be back on the water, the salty sea water sprayed me and I felt good. Happiness lifted my lips in a smile and I shouted with joy again.

We surfed for a long time, or at least it felt like a long time. In actuality, it was probably the same amount of time as every other day. The seniors came down later on to surf, and Ty had his camera. Obviously, it hadn't sustained irreparable damage. He turned his camera towards the waves, and in doing so, he turned my attention back to the waves.

It was good to be back.

Ty P.O.V

He trained his camera on her, watching her move through the waves. Her long brown hair streamed out behind her and her face held an expression of complete relaxation. She surfed as though she was an extension of the water. No, she _was _the water. She was a part of it, completely at home. And for a second, he wanted to be out there too, becoming a part of the water. She made him want to surf too; her enthusiasm at getting the chance to surf and her contentedness just to be there, made him want to join her out there and experience what she was experiencing. She made it inviting, made the water look alluring.

She understood why he made surf videos, better than even he did and he was the director. She was the essence of what surfing is – she showed it through her every movement. How had she put it again? Oh yeah, that's right; being as much as one with the sea as you can be. She had a way with words, he thought, remembering the way her lips moved when she spoke and how much he would very much like to kiss them.

He shook his head and concentrated on her. She didn't throw out any hard tricks, preferring instead a slower pace. Her movements were fluid and flowing as her board skimmed the surface of the wave. Her friends, the other Groms, weren't too far behind her, but he kept the camera focused on her, not wanting the attention to be centred on someone else. And, if he admitted it to himself, he didn't really want to look anywhere else. She was stunning like this, in her comfortable environment, but that isn't to say she's not stunning all the time. Because she is. He had thought it the moment he had seen her walking towards the front door of the lobby. The sun had been shining down directly on her and a gentle breeze danced strands of her hair around her face. He had walked into her, pretending not to see her just so he could have a chance to talk to her.

Again he had to force himself to focus back to the present and he watched as she surfed to the top of the wave, determination and anticipation written in her face. As she gained air, she flipped upside down and spun a three-sixty-degree circle before smoothly meeting the wave and continuing along. A happy smile was plastered on her face and he smiled too.

It made him glad he finally decided to film her, after those couple days of watching her _be _the water. She was exactly what he was looking for. Natural; not fake, not made up or pretending. She was being herself. And through his eyes he saw her as perfect and innocent and oblivious to the attention she draws from the opposite sex. He became irrational and irritable when a guy looked at her and he felt the same jealousy that he knew he had no right to, rise up inside him each time. Her emotions were worn on her sleeve and her face was a book. You could read what she was thinking and see what she felt. She didn't even realise she was doing it, and that made her vulnerable sometimes. And unattainable. It would be wrong of him to use her open nature against her; it would be like pretending. Pretending he knew her and understood her when all he was really doing was reading her. And how could she go for someone like him? Someone as uninteresting as him. He could wish, alright, but in the end she wouldn't even know that he was wishing in the first place. How could she when she didn't know her own appeal?

The times he had been around her made him glad to have been given those chances. She was different to other girls; she constantly surprised him. She could be the voice of reason one second and then totally illogical the next, and sometimes she had a way of talking in circles that made him smile. She looked so soft on the exterior, delicate even, but he had experienced her change from soft to hard, seen her eyes go cold and her voice seem like flint. She was toughness in disguise and it intrigued him. He had watched her hold strong to her beliefs and stand up for herself. She had a knack of being around when someone needed to talk, and she seemed to always know what to say; it was amazing that someone could be so in tune with other people's feelings. He loved that she was a bookworm, becoming so engrossed in the story that she wouldn't hear you when you spoke to her. It made him a little envious that she could get transported into another world, another time so easily. He laughed as he remembered that she babbled sometimes when she was nervous and she was full of facts that surprised him. Facts about worms and grasshoppers and petroleum jelly. She was smarter than she realised and compassionate. When he was around her, he was completely himself; he felt no need to act a part and be something he wasn't. He couldn't imagine his life now without her in it, as absurd as it was, because she had become a part of it. Which was why he couldn't do anything that would compromise their friendship. It meant too much to him to jeopardise. But he wanted her, that was for sure. In ways he shouldn't.

He should move on, he told himself, find someone else, like that girl in the restaurant. Their budding friendship was important; in the time he had spoken with her, laughed with her, he had become more involved in her life than any other girls'. Disappointment rose in his chest as he realised it would be better if he didn't show an interest in her. Save him the humiliation and future disappointment of her rejection. And that way, he could remain her friend without it becoming awkward or strained.

And he could continue to film her, her radiance reflected in the lens of his camera.

* * *

><p><strong>I know this chapter is short, and kind of a filler, but I gave you Ty's perspective of Nereida. And remember, this is the way he sees her; as someone who is perfect. It doesn't mean she is, it's just the way he sees her. It's Ty's personal reflection.<strong>

**So, what did you think?**

**Hopefully the next chapter will be better. I have some interesting tidbits for you in it; more from Nereida's life before she became a summer staff.**


	11. Chapter 11

I don't hate children. I'm biologically programmed to love them, it's in my DNA. I want kids when I'm older, more than anything else, and I've done babysitting for family friends. My father's work mates have children, who I adore. I never thought I would come across any children I don't like, I just didn't think it was possible, but today seemed to be that day.

Mr and Mrs Marvin had two boys about ten years old and they were all staying at the hotel. The parents seemed nice enough, if oblivious to their son's nightmarish behaviour. And that was an understatement. They were _terrors_. Absolute terrors. So far, they had blasted hot dogs around the restaurant, smashed a lot of glassware, tripped Emma and myself by tying our legs to a table, tied Wipeout to a gold buggy and towed him around the lobby, and I'd heard they even pulled Bummer's shorts down. Luckily I wasn't around for that one. And to top it off, the parents didn't see them doing anything wrong.

Today, we had a shift in the morning, then an hour break at 12, and then we had to return for work until four o'clock. So, needless to say, we were spending our break time in the water. We had planned it so we spent the most amount of time in the water. To achieve a maximum amount of time in the water, we had decided to surf at the regular beach as it was a lot closer to the resort than the office was.

I hadn't seen Lo all morning; she was probably hiding to get out of work. It was actually pretty funny, but she knew where we'd be if she wanted to join us. Emma, Fin and I paddled out towards a wave, fairly slowly. The water cooled my hands as we went.

"Ugh, I'm so excited to be out of the DR right now, you have no idea," Emma sighed.

"I'm with you on that one," I told her.

"I hear ya," Fin said. Then she pointed at an incoming wave. "But we're out here now and the surf is up! Go for it," She told Emma.

We watched her ride the wave and were surprised that she made it through the whole thing without falling off. I was proud of her, she finally did it. When she reached the end, she pumped her fist in the air and yelled 'wahoo' before jumping of her board into the water.

"That was awesome," Fin told her while I nodded enthusiastically.

"I've decided that I have to live near the beach for the rest of my life," Emma sighed.

"Definitely," I said.

"I hear that," Fin said just as we heard a girlish giggle from close to the shore, followed by Reef's voice. He must still be working, giving surf lessons.

"Yeah, I've been surfing my whole life. Surfing's a source, it'll change your life," He said.

"Check out Mr smooth," Fin said, rolling her eyes.

"The biggest I've ever surfed?" Reef said, pretending to think about it for a moment. "North Shore, Hauhu. No! Bell's beach, Australia, epic waves, triple overhead at least." The girl was pretty, with blonde hair that was a shade from glossy and a small frame. She looked at Reef with adoring eyes and an awe-filled gaze.

"Triple overhead? As if!" Fin said angrily. "Guaranteed he's never surfed over ten feet." Emma laughed and I snorted.

"Extreme athletes sometimes pay an extreme price," his voice took on a different tone. "But I'd rather die surfing than never take any risks." He moved close to the girl, grabbing her hands in both of his own. "Let me take you to the edge with me." Wait a minute. That sounded so…

"Familiar," I finished out loud.

"What?" Emma laughed.

"What he's saying sounds so familiar," I explained.

She gasped, "Your right!"

"I can't believe he just said that. He's so cheesy, we need crackers just to listen to him," Fin complained.

"But why does everything he say sound familiar?" Emma said.

Suddenly, Ty's little brother, George and his friend swam past on their surfboards, "Because he's using lines straight out of that old surf movie, Breakpoint. What a doofus," He told.

I gasped as I realised he was right!

"Oh. My. God," I said. "That is so lame!" I chortled. "You're right, he is a doofus," I told George.

Emma gasped then, "That's right. Isn't that the one about the federal agent who learns to surf?"

"Okay, he can't get away with using movie lines to hit on girls," Fin said. "That's, like, beyond wrong."

"Then the police recruited me to help nab this band of bank-robbing surfers," Reef said.

"Okay, that's it," Fin said, starting to paddle away as I snorted out a laugh again. He couldn't be serious! "He is so going down!" Emma and I sat there as Fin paddled back to shore. Ty paddled past us then, heading for a wave.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey," I said.

"Hey Ty," Emma said smoothly, watching his butt. She moved as he swam away and ended up falling in the water. I laughed again.

"You alright?" I giggled.

"Fine," she said, still looking at Ty.

"Come on," I said, following in Fin's direction. "Our break is over."

I wasn't looking forward to work, at all, if those two monsters were there.

0:o:0:o:0:o:0:o:0:o:0:o:0:o:0

We sat on the beach at the office as the top of the sun sank below the horizon. Fin had confronted Reef about his horrible use of cheesy lines from surf movies. I sat next to Lo as they fought.

"So I used lines from Breakpoint, big deal, I can't help it if Blair's never seen any quality police surfing flicks," He said as a defence. A very poor defence.

"See? That's why they should have hired a girl surf instructor," Fin said angrily.

"Oh right, and you wouldn't hit on cute guy students?" Johnny asked disbelievingly.

"Well, maybe I would but I wouldn't be all bad actor about it," She defended herself.

"I think the line that really got her was;" He pulled Fin close to him and put an arm on her shoulders. "Let me take you to the edge with me."

"Ugh," Fin said, sticking out her tongue and removing Reef's hand.

"You used that line? That's weak bro," Broseph said.

"Let me, take you, to the…" Johnny had a pencil and paper, and was writing down what Reef had said. When he realised we were watching him, he quickly covered up what he was doing, "Uh, definitely unacceptable."

"It's like trying to pass of a knock off bag as a designer. I hate it when people do that," Lo muttered under her breath.

"I didn't hear any complaints from the customer," you could hear the smug smile in his voice.

"Hey, hey, hey, are we still down with movie night in town tomorrow?" Broseph asked. "I hear Kahuna shows all surfing flicks all the time."

"Really? That's awesome," Emma said.

"He has everyone ever made."

"Let's totally go," Emma said.

"Sweet. I'll see if Blair's in," Reef got up and walked away.

"Does the Kahuna take requests?" Fin asked. What was she up to?

"No doubt," Broseph said.

"In that case, I'll definitely be there," she rubbed her hands together and got a gleam in her eyes. Okay, I was a little worried.

We made our way back to the dorm, chatting about which movie Kahuna would play. Fin was suspiciously quiet but I let it go. Apart from the maniacal gleam in her eye, she was acting fairly normal. Time whizzed by and before I knew it, I was too tired to keep my eyes open.

It was well after 11 by the time we finally went to sleep.

0:o:0:o:0:o:0:o:0:o:0:o:0

Those horrible boys were back the next morning with their parents. I wanted to bar their entrance to the DR but suspected Bummer wouldn't take it too kindly that I kicked a family out. But I wanted to.

Lunch break went from 10 to 11 today, so we grabbed something to eat, then went to find Fin. She wasn't hard to find; all we had to look for was the cart with cleaning supplies and a closed door with shouts off "What? That was pathetic!" and "That didn't deserve a 9!" in her loud voice. We knocked on the door and she let us in. collapsing on the bed, I looked at what she was watching; a surf competition, of course. Emma and Fin joined me on the bed and Lo was rummaging through the closet.

"Ohh, he got shut down," Fin said as a wave smashed down on the surfer. "So, guess what movie the Kahuna is screening tonight?" She asked us. "Breakpoint."

"You actually asked him to show it?" Lo asked, holding up a blue dress with an inwardly rounded V-neckline and thin straps.

"More like bribed," she laughed. "I promised I'd wash his bus tomorrow." My eyebrows raised and I looked at her incredulously.

"Wow, you're kind of obsessed with this whole Reef-stealing-lines thing," She said.

"Cleaning a bus? Are you crazy?" I asked her.

"What do you care what he does?" Emma asked.

"It's for the good of woman kind," Fin elaborated. Yeah right.

"Whatever," Lo said, not buying Fins lame excuse. "You totally love him, you want to marry him and have, like, a hundred of his surfer babies." Okay, that was a gross thought.

"Are you serious? No!" She stomped over to Lo at the closet. "He's such a tool, he's like the whole tool shed!"

"Okay, there is such a thing as over-defending yourself. If you had left it at 'he's a tool' then I might have believed you. But you went a bit overboard," I told her, a somewhat evil smile on my face.

"Oh," Emma gasped. "You do like him! And you're jealous of that girl Blair."

"I'm so not," Fin demanded.

"You want to kiss him," Lo said. "Admit it."

"I'd rather kiss a dead fish," she said, outraged.

"Me thinks the lady doth protest too much," I mocked her, repeating back to her what she had said to me.

"Uh, you're cleaning a bus for him," Emma reminded.

"No, I'm doing this because girls shouldn't have to put up with cheesy-ness from guys, especially stolen cheesy-ness. It's time we said no to the cheese! No to the cheese guys!"

"Wow, that was almost convincing," Lo smirked.

"You're a terrible liar," I mocked.

"Yeah, you definitely like him," Emma sounded smug.

"No way!" She shouted. There was a pause.

"Okay, whoever this girl is, she has seriously good taste," she held up the blue dress again. Then she gasped, "I have a totally brilliant idea. We should borrow some to wear to the movies tonight. Let's try some on," she sighed.

"What? You can't do that," Emma told her.

"Why not? She'll never know," Fin said, holding up a seamless yellow dress with very thin straps and a non-revealing neckline. The colour would complement her hair.

"You can't be going along with this," I said to her. "They're not our dresses!"

"No way you guys, we can't," Emma said worriedly.

"But there might be cute guys there," Lo tried cajoling.

"What if she notices they're gone?" I asked.

"She has like twenty-eight dresses," Lo said in amazement.

"We'll have them back before she even notices," Fin said. The yellow dress was made to be fitted and currently Fin had her arms by her side and the dress over the top so she couldn't move. "Okay, guys I think I'm stuck." She tried wriggling out to no avail.

"Ohh, this one would look so pretty on you," Lo said to Emma, holding up a very tropical looking strapless pink dress with a belt tied in the middle that would accentuate her waist. Then Lo turned to me, "And this one would look amazing on you." She held up a classically simple low-hung dress of lilac embroided silk that would hug my body from my breasts to my hips before flowing loosely to just above my knees. It was so pretty, and I was a sucker for a pretty dress. I sighed as I realised I wanted to wear it.

"Oh, don't tempt me," Emma sighed. I swallowed hard and turned away from the dress. "We've got to get back to work," She said, walking for the door.

"Yeah, that's just mean. Don't tease me with that beautiful, perfectly gorgeous dress," I sighed.

"Guys, I'm serious, okay, I'm stuck in here," Fin said, grabbing our attention. I looked at her then burst out laughing.

Then there was a knock at the door.

"Shhh," I said.

"Someone's at the door," Emma said.

"Somebody get this off me," Fin said, trying to be quiet. We pulled the dress over the top of Fin's head before running to the closet to hide. We piled in, closing the door most of the way. It was dark in here with only a little light coming through the opening. Emma's shoulder jabbed into my back and Lo's hair was in my face. I tried to blow it out of my way and only succeeded in having it tickle my face.

"Yes? Can I help you?" I heard Fin's voice through the door.

"What's going on? I heard a ruckus," the voice sounded like Rosie, the other house keeper.

"A ruckus?" Fin asked innocently. Maybe she could be an actor after all. "I don't know anything about a ruckus."

We giggled a little, it was just too funny.

"Is someone else in here?" Rosie asked.

"In here? No, that's just the TV, the guest must have left it on." I supressed another laugh.

"Surfer," Rosie grumbled, as if that explained Fin's weird behaviour. I heard her footfalls as she walked away and the squeak of the door as Fin closed it. We pulled the door open and pushed out, laughing.

"Okay, now we really have to go," She walked to the door. When Lo made no move to go either I said to Emma.

"I'll be down in a second." She nodded at me.

"You sure about the dress?" Fin asked.

"Yes. You guys are so bad," she walked out.

I turned to Lo, "You are also required to be downstairs for your shift. It's a part of your job, you know, actually showing up is step one."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming," she said, holding the green dress against her.

I barely managed to repress rolling my eyes, "Come on," I grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the door.

"Wait, wait. Fin, you're in charge of getting the dresses."

"And how am I supposed to do that?"

"I don't know, put them in a garbage bag and pretend their rubbish," Lo shrugged her shoulders.

"You know, that's actually a good idea," Fin said. Suddenly, Lo's phone went off.

"Hello?" She asked.

"_Lo, I need that dress for tonight,"_ Emma's voice filtered through Lo's phone to my ears. What made her change her mind?

"Okay," Lo said and hung up before turning to me.

"What?" I asked.

"Come on, we're all taking, I mean borrowing, a dress. You have to now as well," She said.

"That's peer pressure, you know. What are you going to say next 'everybody's doing it'?" I mocked.

"No. but we're still taking the dress for you. We will force it on you," Lo said.

I laughed, "Fine, but you should know I'm not a very good liar. If we get caught and then questioned, I'll probably blurt out the truth without even realising," I warned.

"Which is why we won't get caught," Fin said.

This time I did roll my eyes, "Whatever. Come on Lo, we're going to be late and I don't want to deal with Kelly being a dragon."

We walked down to the restaurant, Lo grumbling the whole way about how she 'couldn't believe she worked in a pirate's ship'. I just shook my head at her.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't watching the clock. The dress was just so pretty and I couldn't wait to try it on. The afternoon shift went by quickly and I hardly remember any of it. When we were finally relieved of our duties, we hurried to the dorm, Fin carrying the garbage bag. Emma rummaged around in it before taking out the dress and rushing upstairs. She was sure in a hurry, which made me think I wasn't the only one who had spent the last couple hours wanting to try a dress on. We walked up the stairs more slowly and when we got there, Johnny and Broseph were outside our closed door. Johnny looked ecstatically happy. They walked down to their room before I could ask them what they were doing. We went inside to start getting ready.

Lo appointed herself 'hairdresser for the night' and we were 'expected' to at least run a hair style by her. At the very least. Before I changed I stood in front of the mirror, debating how I would do my hair. Lo came over and grabbed a bunch of it, twisting and styling it.

"Hmm. You should curl it, then put half of it up and leave the rest out," She mused.

"My hair is already curly," I reminded her.

"I know, but I mean more defined curls. Ringlets."

"Right," I said.

"I'll heat up my curlers in the bathroom. Hurry up and get changed and do you make up, then I'll do your hair." She informed me.

"Thanks," I smiled at her in the mirror. She smiled, and then walked to her bed, getting changed. I took the purple dress from the bag and fingered the material. I felt bad for taking this dress without asking, but it was very pretty.

I rummaged in my locker shelf for a strapless bra and quickly got changed. I moved back to the mirror. The dress hung low on my breasts and it was clingy, highlighting my petite-but- curvaceous frame. The top half had silver silk threads woven into it in a swirling pattern that was very feminine. From the bottom of my hips flowed a lilac river of silk, rippling when I moved. It was absolutely perfect. I applied a thin layer of silver eyeliner and mascara, before adding a natural-coloured lip gloss. I moved to the bathroom and saw Lo waiting for me. It didn't take long for Lo to style my hair to look pretty, but not too done-up; after all, we were only going to the movies.

When we were finished, we walked back to the hotel to catch the god-awful whale bus into town. Talk about arriving in style, I thought sarcastically.

Emma looked very girly in her pink dress and light pink eye shadow and gloss. Fin had gone more laid-back and added half-length black legging under her dress, with no makeup. And Lo was done up perfectly, a stylish mix of urban-chic and elegance. We boarded the bus for the journey into town. I wasn't surprised to see Reef, Blair, Broseph and Johnny already on board, but I was surprised to see Ty sitting next to the girl from the other morning. I don't know how I felt about that, even though I encouraged him to talk to her.

This time, with people to chat to, the bus ride went quicker and in no time we were getting off the whale bus and waiting in line at the cinema. Emma was ahead of me in line, with Lo behind me and Fin behind her. Reef and Blair were behind her and Ty and the girl were at the back.

"Pay with whatever you've got, compadres," Kahuna said, sitting in the ticket booth.

I searched around for the pen in my purse that I had put there earlier. Then Mrs Marvin and her two horrors got in line as well. A collective groan went through the line. Just, great. Just. Great. I can't escape them.

As the line progressed, Fin walked up and said, "Hey guys, did you see what's playing?"

"Oh, yeah," Kahuna cleared his throat. I turned to see Reef's reaction. "Tonight's movie is the totally radical '90's surf action flick, Breakpoint."

His reaction was priceless. His eyes widened and he went still. "Hey, Blair, I just had an idea. we can't really talk at a movie, so why don't we go get some ice cream or something," he tried to get her to walk away. I chortled. He was a goner.

"Oh no, you can't walk away from Breakpoint," Fin asked with mock seriousness. "It's like a surf crime. You are really going to love it." I turned back to Kahuna and passed him the pen.

"It changes colour when you write, you'll never know what colour you'll get," I told him.

"Totally sick. Just what I wanted," he said, taking it. I walked over to stand next to Lo and Emma as we waited for Fin. The next thing we knew, we were being shepherded away from the others.

"You guys, the guest we borrowed our dresses from is Blair. Reef's Blair," she hissed at us.

"Oh no," I muttered. "This is not good. She can't see us otherwise she'll totally know."

"I knew this was a bad idea," Emma said worriedly.

Ty and his…date walked past us and we stopped talking so they wouldn't overhear.

"Cute dress. Very tropical," He said to Emma before winking conspiringly to me. So, he had paid attention to what I had said about compliments. Good for him, that was valuable information.

"This is such a good idea," Emma squealed.

"We can't go in there; the owner of our dresses is in there," Lo said.

"Oh, no, I want to see Reef's face when he gets busted," Fin said enthusiastically.

"And Ty likes my dress, come on" Emma sighed happily.

"What's the worst they can do? Fire you?" Fin asked.

"Good point. Let's go," Lo said.

"What?" I demanded. "No way. We'll get busted!"

"Come on," Fin said, grabbing my arm and dragging me in. This was probably going to end badly.

The theatre was practically empty, which was surprising to me. I would have thought a popular town like this would have more people with time to kill. Obviously not. I sat in the second row, in between Lo and Fin and behind Reef and Blair. Emma had wanted to sit closer to where Ty and his date were so she could spy. Not surprising.

The movie started, the lights low, and the screen flickered to life. I settled back in my chair. I really like this movie. We weren't far into it when I saw Ty get up, followed closely behind by Emma. I rolled my eyes and supressed laughter. The laughter died a couple of minutes later when Blair stirred in her seat and told Reef she was going to the bathroom, which happened to be in the lobby. Where Emma was. Oh shit. Lo and I looked at each other before standing up and running out, before Blair had fully stood up.

We burst through the door and saw Emma standing at the candy bar, holding a giant cup of popcorn and a drink, talking to Ty. I really hated to interrupt, but it had to be done. We rushed to her and pushed her towards the other end of the lobby.

"What did you do that for?" Emma asked us.

"So our butts wouldn't be fired for stealing from a guest," Lo said. I gestured over her shoulder and she turned to see Blair walk into the ladies room. Then Lo got a look at what Emma was holding.

"Wow, you can really put it back," She said.

I laughed and realised I was dying for a drink. I walked past Ty to get a drink and said to Emma and Lo that I'd see them back in there. They walked back in as Kahuna asked what I'd like.

"What's the grape juice like?" I asked him.

"Well, it tastes like grapes," Kahuna said. I nearly laughed.

"Sour grapes," Ty informed me from behind. "Trust me, you won't like it." He stood beside me then, "You'd probably like the banana smoothie, though."

I smiled, "Thanks. One banana smoothie please."

"Coming right up," Kahuna said. The air filled with a familiar song and I realised it was coming from my handbag.

"Oh, one sec, it's probably just my dad," I said, sifting through the contents of my bag to find my cell phone. I didn't recognise the number and I frowned. "Hello?"

"_Hello, this is Greg from the Churchill pound. I don't know if you remember, but a couple months ago you brought a black kitten in," _voice on the other end of the line said.

"Yeah, I remember," I said slowly. Ty looked at me in confusion.

"_Well, you asked me to call you to let you know what happens to the kitten."_

"Yeah…" I said slowly.

"_Well, I'm afraid the kitten is going to have to be euthanized."_

"What?" I demanded angrily. They couldn't! They just couldn't! That kitten had been so adorable and well-tempered and they were going to kill it? "You can't do that!"

"_Again, I'm afraid, we have no choice. No one's been in to collect him in the five months he's been here, so that makes him a stray. We don't have the capacity to keep the kitten here. I'm sorry."_

"No, you can't," I said. "You mean no one has come to get him? At all?"

"_No one, miss I'm just following standard procedure."_

"Standard procedure!" there was a standard procedure to killing an innocent animal? "When? When is this going to happen?" I demanded again.

"_Noon, tomorrow," _Greg said.

"No. it's not going to happen," I said angrily.

"_I'm afraid –"_

I cut him off. "I mean it's not going to happen because I'm going to adopt him."

On the other end of the line Greg let out a huge relieved sigh, _"Thank goodness. I was hoping you would say that. I'll make sure they don't go ahead, just be here tomorrow before noon."_

It was my turn to sigh, "I'll be there."

"_Thanks a lot miss,"_ The call ended.

I sighed again. What was I thinking? I couldn't take this kitten. Then I frowned, but I couldn't let it die either. I remembered how I found; sitting in our back yard in the sun. I had walked over to it cautiously so I didn't scare it. But it had looked at me with knowing eyes and walked towards me before wrapping itself around my legs and purring so loud I could feel the vibrations up my leg. I took it inside and gave it a drink of milk, which it lapped up enthusiastically before taking it to the pound. Surely this adorable creature belonged to someone; surely there was someone out there grieving over losing him? As I left the pound, the cat had looked at me with sad, pleading eyes and I had wanted to run back over and tell Greg he was my cat and that there had been some sort of mix-up. But I hadn't. And now they wanted to kill him? An innocent little kitten, who just needed a home? No, I wouldn't let them. There was no way I would let them. Somehow tomorrow I would get back to Churchill and get that kitten. I sighed; it was just going to be hard.

Ty cleared his throat and then asked, "Uh, what was that about?"

"Um, well, it's kind of a long story. But there's this kitten I found a couple months ago and I took him to the pound. But now they have to euthanize him because no one has claimed him. So, somehow, tomorrow I'm going to somehow get back to Churchill and stop them. Then I'm going to take him with me," I said in a rush.

He raised an eyebrow, "Can't say I was expecting that."

"Yeah, well. Dad is in Russia, so there's no one at home; no one to look after the kitten, so he's going to have to come back here. I don't even know if I'm allowed a pet in the staff house. I'll have to check to see if anyone is allergic first, but I can't let the kitten die," I muttered the last bits to myself.

"And how are you going to get to Churchill?" he asked me as Kahuna handed me the smoothie.

"Thanks," I smiled at him before turning back to Ty and shrugging. "I don't know; Bus, train, I guess. Oh, and I'll have to talk to Kelly, see if I can get tomorrow morning off."

"You shouldn't go by yourself," he frowned, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"Uh, I came here by myself," I reminded him. But he ignored it and shook his head.

"You don't know what kind of people are out there. You can't go by yourself." I frowned, getting angry. Who was he to dictate what I could and couldn't do? Even if it was to protect me.

"Uh, yes I can," I said stubbornly.

"No, you can't," he said just as stubbornly.

"And who is going to stop me? It's my life," I said incredulously.

"I will, if I have to."

"You've got to be kidding me. I'm not going to let that kitten die!" anger rose up in my chest. How dare he!

"I'm not asking you to, I'm just saying you can't go by yourself."

"Everyone has to work; I can't get them to take time off, okay? I'm going by myself. You have no say in the matter," I clenched my jaw, staring him down.

He laughed and shook his head, "You are so stubborn." He smiled. "Alright, I'll go with you."

"What?" confusion coloured my voice.

"We'll take my car and go down there tomorrow morning," he said simply, smiling to himself like he'd just solved world hunger.

I just stared at him and I'm pretty sure my mouth was hanging open. "Let me get this straight," I said slowly. "You want to drive me to Churchill, which is an hour and a half away, to help me save a kitten, only to drive another hour and a half to get back?"

"Yep," he said.

I gaped at him.

"What time do you want to leave?" he asked. He was serious.

"Eight o'clock?" I asked.

He nodded, "Okay. I'll meet you in the car park at eight o'clock."

"Your serious?" I asked him.

He nodded, then grinned, "It won't kill me," he mocked. Wait, wasn't that something I said to him, not that long ago?

"Wait, what about your date? Will you be going out tomorrow?" I asked. I still didn't know how to feel.

"No, not tomorrow morning. We should be back in plenty of time though," his smile was reassuring.

"Okay. Thanks Ty," I said. I held his gaze to make sure he knew I meant it.

"No problem," he grinned back at me. "I'll see you tomorrow."

I nodded and then returned to the cinema. I had lots to do before tomorrow morning. I had to see Kelly about my shift change; knowing Kelly, she was going to make it hard for me, for sure. Then I had to check that no one in the dorm was allergic to cats. I don't know what I'll do if someone is. This was harder than it should be. And I had to let dad know I was adopting a kitten. I wonder how he'll take it. Then I'd also have to buy cat litter and cat food and bowls for water and biscuits. And I should probably get a microchip implanted so I can't lose him. Not that I plan to; it was just a precaution.

The movie passed in a blur; I didn't really pay attention; I was too busy thinking. Distantly I was aware of Johnny and Broseph talking, and Reef and Fin talking, and I think I saw Emma get up again, but I didn't pay much attention to them either. It's not that I didn't care; it was just how I am. I have to have everything planned meticulously otherwise I feel suffocated. Organisation is the key. I won't be able to pay much focus on anything else until I have everything sorted.

However, a loud "NOOO!" brought me back to the present. What in the world? I looked over and saw Emma covering her mouth in her hands, an empty cup nearby. Then I saw coke spilt on Emma, and Ty's date. Oh no, what has she gotten herself into? They got up and left, and I followed.

They were by the candy bar again, and Emma was apologising. Ty was trying to mop up the mess on her blouse. I tried not to pay attention to how close his hands were to her breasts.

"Can I do anything to help?" Emma asked.

"Thanks, I've got it," Ty said. He looked a little guilty. I grabbed some serviettes and went into the bathroom to wet them.

"Here," I passed some sopping wet paper towels to Ty. Then I passed some to Emma, "Clean yourself up," I said, giggling a little. She took them and thanked me.

Then Reef and Blair came out of the cinema as well.

"Blair, this is all just a misunderstanding," Reef said.

"Oh yeah? Well that's what I think of your cheesy lines," Blair said, dumping her box of cheesy nachos onto Reef's head. I laughed, I couldn't help it, and it drew Blair's attention to us.

"Oh, nice, I'm starting to like this girl," Fin said.

"And if those dresses _are_ mine, the four of you are _so_ fired!" Blair said. "You can have your boyfriend back now."

"What?" Fin demanded

"She is not my girlfriend!" Reef shouted. It would have been funny if the situation hadn't been so dire.

"We have to get these dresses back into Blair's closet before she gets back," Emma said.

We were in so much shit.

* * *

><p><strong>So, what did you think?<strong>


	12. Chapter 12

"Kahuna, we need a ride back to the hotel like now!" Fin said, her voice loud.

"No problemo Waheenies," He said. "Meet me out front."

We walked to the front door, watching out for Blair. She was out the front, tapping her foot. We snuck past her around the side and Kahuna opened the doors to let us on the bus.

"Don't you have anything faster?" Fin demanded.

"Blair is going to grab a taxi and beat us back," Emma cried.

"Yeah, not going to happen. There's only one taxi in town and you're looking at the driver. That girl isn't going anywhere till the movie's out," Kahuna said. We boarded the bloody bus. Then I started to panic a bit. I can't lose my job! I can't get fired! And couldn't this bus go any faster? I took deep calming breaths. I could do this. I wouldn't get fired because I'm smart, my friends are smart, and we'll get the dresses back into her closet before she gets back. We can do this.

The hotel lights were up ahead and I let out another breath. Kahuna stopped and let us out.

"Thanks Kahuna!" We called simultaneously.

"Good luck Waheenies," He said and started to drive off but not before I heard him say "You're going to need it." Even the Kahuna thought we were in deep doodoo. Great.

"Okay, start up the laundry, I'll grab a change of clothes from the staff house," I said.

"Hurry," Emma called. "We only have an hour."

We took off running and I was glad that the dress wasn't tight or restricting. I stayed away from branches that could tear and rip the fragile material. I breathed deeply and let my stride become longer. I ran; air burning it's way to my lungs. Luckily the staff house wasn't far away, so I wasn't out of breath really badly nor would I sweat a lot and ruin the material that way too. The dorm became visible up ahead and I put on another burst of speed. I ran up the stairs, taking two at a time and very nearly kicked our bedroom door down. I rummaged through our lockers and grabbed the appropriate clothing, throwing it into the garbage bag still sitting on Fin's bed from before.

As I ran back down the stair I nearly toppled over Ripper. "Sheila, what ar-"

"Can't talk; running. See ya Ripper," I called, darting back down the stairs and charging down to the laundry room. They were undressed and waiting for my dress to start the machine. I dumped the bag and stripped of my dress, throwing it into the machine and pressing start. We changed into our normal everyday attire and I took the opportunity to fill them in on my kitten adoption.

"So, are any of you allergic to cats?" I asked.

"No," Fin said.

"Nope," Lo agreed

"A kitten would be awesome!" Emma cried.

I grinned, "Good."

The washing machine beeped and we put the clothing in the dryer. I looked at my watch; 20 minutes. We could make it.

"Fin," I said, taking charge. "You need to get the keys to the rooms so we can get in. Lo, go with her."

"Why me?" Lo asked.

"Because, if you get caught, you can say you wanted to go to the penthouse and talk to your dad, but he took the key off you. We'll meet you there when this is done."

"Good idea," She said. I smiled at her. They took off for the lobby. I glanced back at my watch; 17 minutes. I breathed deeply.

"You seem used to taking charge," Emma said, sitting down on the bench. I sat next to her and stared intently at the dryer, as if my gaze could force it to dry faster.

"Not really," I laughed, but it came out sounding wrong. "It just came out."

She nodded. "Don't worry. We'll make it," Emma soothed.

I looked at her surprised, "Wh-"

"You only do that when you're nervous," she gestured to my hands. Or more specifically my fingers. I didn't even realise I was playing with them; twisting them around one another until she pointed it out. I automatically stilled them and took another deep breath and laughed.

The dryer finished and we grabbed the dresses, running back to the resort. It didn't take us long in these clothes; they were way more comfortable. I glanced down at my watch and grimaced. 5 minutes to go. Oh, no, my watch was slow. We came running up to the front doors to the resort just as the bus slowed down at the door. I think my heart stopped. But then the bus kept going and I started to breathe again. We met Lo and Fin in the lobby and we ran to the elevator. I jabbed the button with my finger viciously.

"Any trouble?" I asked them as the elevator closed.

"Nope. I didn't even need to go," Lo said.

"Good."

The elevator door opened and we raced along the carpeted hallway. We turned the corner and I saw Blair's room ahead.

"Hurry, hurry," Emma called behind me.

Fin slammed the key into the door and we ran in, fumbling to hang the dresses up. We closed the closet door just as we hear the room lock click. She was opening the door! And we were trapped!

"Come on," Fin hissed quietly. She led us out to the balcony and we closed the sliding door just as the front door opened. We started to climb over the railing and dropped to the ground, glad that Blair had a room on the second story. My feet collided with the ground and I spread the impact throughout my feet so it wasn't concentrated in one area.

The sliding door opened and we ran off, back to the dorm with Lo shouting "Go go go!"

"We are never doing that again," I gasped as we slowed to a walk. The dorm was just up ahead.

"Agreed," Fin laughed.

I breathed the fresh night air in deeply as I fought to catch my breath. I hadn't done anything physically demanding like that in years, so I was a bit out of shape. The cool air helped me think though and with sudden clarity, I realised tomorrow was the weekend. I didn't need to worry about shifts. Weight fell off my shoulders with that knowledge. We trudged up the porch steps and collapsed on the sofas. I leaned on the back of the soft chair and sighed. Lo plunked her head on my legs and sighed as well. I glanced at my watch; 10 o'clock! Wow, time really did fly when you were trying not to get fired.

Lo groaned and got up, walking for the stairs, "I'm going to bed," she called over her shoulder.

"Good idea," Emma said, following her up.

Fin and I looked at each other and shrugged identical shrugs before following them up. Before I walked into my room though, I paused and thought now would be my only time to see if anyone had any cat allergies.

"I'll be back in a second," I told Fin who nodded. I walked from room to room; surprisingly there weren't many people staying here. Obviously other people had nice places to live or the lived nearby or something.

I knocked on Ripper and Lances door.

"Come in," Ripper called. I love his accent, it's so cool.

I stuck my head in the room, "Hi, sorry to bother you so late but I was wondering if any of you were allergic to cats?"

Ripper looked taken aback; "What kind of question is that?"

"One that needs an answer," I said politely.

Ripper shrugged, "We're not allergic, sheila."

"Oh, good. And uh, how would you feel if, say a kitten, lived in this dorm with us?"

I gauged their reactions, they seemed unaffected, "As long as it didn't ruin my stuff, I don't care."

"Good," I went to leave but Ripper called out.

"Why?"

"Uh, it's kind of a long story, but I have found myself adopting a kitten."

"Uh…" he said. "Okay."

I sighed with relief. "Night boys."

Then I turned around and winced. Kelly's room next. Light spilled from the crack under the door and I knocked three times. It seemed ominous.

"What?" Kelly snapped, flinging the door open.

"Uh, sorry to bother you Kelly, but I was wondering if you're allergic to cats?" I asked timidly. Please say no, please say no.

She glared at me, "And why would you want to know that, Grom?" wow, she was in a bad mood.

"Um, well, there's this kitten that needs a home, and I volunteered for it."

She raised an eyebrow at me, "You volunteered for it."

"Yes, other wise it would be put down." She seemed to soften for a moment, and she looked so un-Kelly-like.

"No I'm not allergic to cats, now will you leave me alone?" Annddd, she was back.

"Thanks Kelly!" I turned and went back to my room, getting changed into my pyjamas. I couldn't keep the triumphant smile off my face. Tomorrow I was getting a kitten!

And then I remembered that Ty was taking me there. We would be all alone, just the two off us. No chance of anyone interrupting, no one else for our attention to focus on. A nervous flutter went through my stomach at the thought. Then I laughed at myself; I was being an idiot. It was just Ty. We'd spent plenty of time together alone and he knew heaps about me. This wasn't a big deal.

I still couldn't get the happy smile off my face as I lay down and fell asleep.

0:o:0:o:0:o:0:o:0:o:0:o:0:o:0

The alarm clock didn't go off this morning so I was woken by the sun shining on my face. Not directly, but it was so bright in our room, it may as well have been. I groaned and shoved my head under my pillow. Then my eyes widened and I looked at my watch.

7:30.

Shit.

I had only half an hour to get ready and be at the car park. I threw the covers back and swung my locker door open, searching for my clothing and still trying to wipe the sleep from my eyes. The others stirred.

"What'r'ya'doin'?" Fin slurred, sitting up, her hair mussed from how she slept.

"Sorry, go back to sleep," I whispered. She collapsed back on the bed and lay there.

"No chance of that now," Lo grumbled, pulling the sheets over her head.

"Sorry," I winced.

"Don't listen to her, she's always grumpy in the morning," Emma sighed. She sat up and looked at me running around the room looking for my brush. "It's on the floor next to the small bookcase," She told me. I spun around and spotted it.

"Thanks."

"No problem. What are you doing?" She asked me.

"I have to go meet Ty so we can get to Churchill so I can adopt that kitten," I said, wincing as I pulled the brush through my knotted hair.

There was a pause then; "You never said Ty was taking you," Fin said.

"Didn't i?" I frowned. I could have sworn…oops.

"No, you didn't," Lo grumbled sitting up.

"Oh, sorry. He offered last night," I explained.

"That's so nice of him. I didn't even know you guys were friends," Emma said.

"Oh, yeah, they're good friends," Fin said. If sleep wasn't so thick in her voice, I would have thought she was mocking me.

"Oh. How long have you guys known each other?" Emma asked.

"Including today?" I asked. She nodded. "Five days."

Realisation became apparent on her face, "Oh. That's really nice of him."

"Yep," I said, throwing my wallet, ID, a towel and my phone into my sling-bag. Then I glanced around the room to make sure I grabbed everything I would need. "Okay, I'll see you guys later," I waved as I walked out the door.

"Have fun," Emma called. "I can't wait to see this cat."

"Kitten," Fin corrected.

"Yeah, have fun with my brother," Lo said in distaste, as if the idea of anyone having fun with Ty was repulsive or unheard of.

"Bye," I called. I went down stairs and grabbed an apple, starting for the car park. As I walked outside, I could hear the ocean and I felt a little sad that I wouldn't get to surf this beautiful morning. The walk to the car park was short and Ty was already there, leaning against his Black Ford Escape Hybrid. I smiled at him and he waved.

"Hey," I said, as he opened the car door for me and helped me climb into it. Such a gentleman.

He walked around and got in his side, "Hey."

"Thanks for this."

"No problem," he said. He reversed and drove to town so he could get on the highway.

"So…I have to say, I thought you'd have a different car to this," I said, looking around at the car's interior.

"Really? And what car did you think I'd have?"

"I don't know," I shrugged. "At the very least an Ashton Martin Vanquish. I can honestly say I wasn't expecting a Ford Escape."

He laughed, "I'm not really into cars. I only know the expensive ones."

"Oh," I said. "Well, I only know the Ashton Martin Vanquish because I fell in love with it when it featured in James Bond's _Die Another Day_."

"James Bond fan, huh?" he asked.

I shook my head, "Not a fan really, I've just seen the movies. They're cool. But I love that car."

"Are you going to buy one when you're older?"

"No," I snorted. "That's way too much money for a _car_. All I need is something to get me from A to B. it's nice that the world isn't full of guys who adore cars though," I grinned at him. Then my eyes widened, "Do you know how to change a tyre?"

"Yep," he stated.

"Okay, good, so if a tyre pops, we're all set." I settled back in the seat. "I'm so excited."

He laughed, "Well, you are getting a cat."

"Mm-hmm, which reminds me, are we on a strict timetable?"

He frowned and shook his head, "I don't think so. I told my dad I would be gone part of the day, but I would have my phone if he needed me."

"So there's nothing you needed to be back in time for, or anything?" he shook his head. "Okay, well would you mind if we stopped at the mall before going to the pound so I can get kitty litter and food and stuff for him?"

"Sure."

"Thanks." Trees flashed by outside and surprisingly, I felt safe in the car with Ty driving. A speed sign flashed as we went, letting me know it was a hundred zone. I glanced at the speedometer and saw he was going 90. "It's a hundred along here," I told him.

"Thanks," he sped up.

There was a pause in conversation, and I didn't know what to do. I glanced at him and saw his hand gripping the wheel tightly. Was I boring him? Or putting him out? Was I making him uncomfortable?

He cleared his throat, and then said, "If you could have three wishes, what would you wish for?"

I stared at him. Talk about random. Sometimes, I wondered what went on in his head. Telepathy would be so cool. "Uh, I don't know."

"Come on, there must be something you really want, more than anything else. Maybe it's something you can't have, or won't even let yourself think about having."

I watched him speak, watched his lips move. Watched him glance at me, then at the road as he spoke. I watched him gesture slightly with his hands. Was there something I really wanted, more than anything else? _Yes. And his name is Ty,_ the thought ran through my mind before I could stop it. I wanted him, yes, but I couldn't have him. He has a girlfriend, Emma likes him, he wouldn't be interested in me, out of all the girls he could have. He was perfect; he was handsome, and kind, and caring, and smart, and had more personality than a kiddie pool, which is more than I could say about some people. He was charming, and sexy and mature and manly. He has an amazing laugh that just makes me melt. He wasn't crazy about cars, or conceited or money-crazy. He was experienced and I wanted to kiss him. Run my hands through his hair; trace my fingers across the soft-looking skin of his lips.

But I wasn't about to tell him that.

"What would you wish for?" I countered, trying to deflect the attention away from me and my rapidly reddening face.

"To successfully film an amazing surf video, to be able to live life to its fullest and to find the woman I can love my whole life," he said simply.

"And how is that going for you?" I asked.

"Eh, some better than others," his grin was sly. "Your turn."

I sighed, thinking. "My wishes have already come true," I said slowly. "I am who I am, I'm where I am, and I'm doing what I am. Life is beautiful, who am I to ask for more?"

He stared at me then looked back at the road, "You are an unusual girl, Nereida."

"No I'm not."

"You are. What would Lo ask for, if she was here?"

I shrugged, "I don't know."

"She would ask for a new Prada bag, a new summer wardrobe, and for dad to let her come back to the penthouse. I love her, but she is superficial sometimes."

I frowned, "I still don't get how I'm unusual. So I didn't ask for anything materialistic, that doesn't mean anything."

"That's just it; you didn't ask for anything."

I was quiet. "Is that a good or a bad thing?" I asked quietly.

"A good thing, definitely. Just different to what I'm used to."

"Oh." I glanced at my watch; still another hour to go. What do you talk about to a boy who made you tingle. It seems when you can't or aren't allowed to talk, there is so much you want to say and discuss, but when you have plenty of free time to let conversation flow, you can't think of a single thing to say. I didn't know what to say, or what to ask him.

I glanced down at my hands, the smooth ivory skin. My fingers were twisting around one another again. Sternly, I told myself to breathe. If it was Lo in the car with me, what would we be talking about?

I glanced in my peripheral at Ty. He probably wasn't interested in the latest fashion, or the quality of our pedicures. What about Fin? Or Emma? I sighed inwardly. I just didn't know what to say; what boys talked about. What I really wanted to know about him was about the kind of girl he liked. I blushed just thinking about asking him that. Then I frowned; but we were friends, right? Friends talked about this kind of thing, right? I could make it seem like I wasn't asking for personal interest, right? Answers; I'm not sure, girls do, I'm not sure.

I should just find out. Ask directly. "We're friends right?" I asked hesitantly.

"Yeah, of course. Why?"

"Just making sure we were on the same page. I'm trying to think of a question but I can only think of a million personal questions that would probably embarrass you." _Or me._

"Take your best shot, I don't embarrass easily," he grinned confidently.

A slow smirk formed on my lips, "I take that as a challenge."

"Bring it on," he said.

I pulled out my phone, "My phone has this app that provides you with embarrassing questions. Are you sure you want to take on my phone? It could get pretty embarrassing," I warned, remembering when my friend from London had versed me, using the app to ask embarrassing after embarrassing questions. I had failed; blushing and stammering all the way.

"I'm not scared," he grinned. And he looked it. He was relaxed and calm, showing no signs of embarrassment or nervousness.

"You should be."

"If I win, you have to tell me one thing you've never told anyone before," he looked at me, waiting for an answer.

"Okay, but you have to answer twenty-five questions; otherwise you forfeit. And you have to tell the absolute truth. Wait, what do I get if I win?"

"Isn't asking twenty-five 'supposedly' embarrassing questions enough?"

I pretended to debate that. "I suppose so. You're on."

"You're on." He repeated, smiling at me. It was a gorgeous, melt-able, breath stopping smile. I almost sighed in happiness; I was the one who got to see it, the one who it was directed at.

"Okay," I said, clicking the app and choosing the 'boys' tab. "Question one. Are you a virgin?" I grinned maliciously. He wouldn't answer that. There was no way.

"Yes. Is that the best you've got?" he smirked. My smile disappeared and I blushed. Okay, maybe it wouldn't embarrass him to be so crass, but it would embarrass me. He was a virgin!

"Okay, question two. Boxers, briefs, or commando?" I giggled a little.

"Briefs," he grinned. I focused on keeping my eyes glued to the screen. If I looked at him, I would surely end up picturing him in briefs, and I didn't need that kind of distraction.

"Question three. Have you ever slept naked?"

"Not that I remember."

I smiled at his answer and clicked on the 'NEXT' button on my phone. He was breezing through these so easily, it was amazing.

"Do you sing while you bathe?" I felt my head cock to the side as I watched him, waiting for an answer.

He pursed his lips before grinning ruefully, "Sometimes."

My lips pulled up into a surprised smile, "Really?"

"Yeah," he half-chuckled. "It surprises me too."

Another click on my phone brought the next question up. "Do you think it's okay to lie?"

"Sometimes, depends on the situation, I suppose."

"If you were gay, who would you want to have a passionate affair with?" I felt a giggle rise in my throat. I couldn't imagine Ty being gay.

"Seriously?" he looked at me, and he also looked like he wasn't comfortable answering that. I felt a triumphant smile grace my face.

"Well, you don't have to answer that, but it's only the sixth question… you'd be forfeiting," I said nonchalantly, though my victorious smile made it obvious I wasn't crushed that he wouldn't answer that question.

"No, no, just give me a second," he held up a finger, signalling for me to wait. He sighed, like he was bringing himself to answer the question out of sheer will-power alone. "Ryan Reynolds."

A very un-lady-like snort burst from my mouth before I could stop it. I slapped a hand over my mouth and looked at him, hoping I hadn't angered him. He didn't have to answer that, but he did. And I laughed. But anger never crossed his face.

"You just snorted," he stated with a crooked smile.

Heat tinged my cheeks ever so slightly. "Yeah. It was an accident. Good choice, by the way." I looked away from him and my eyes landed on my phone. "Question seven. If you were stuck on a deserted Island, which one book, movie and person would you want to take along?"

"Hmm, probably this book I have on filming in conjunction with surfing, ummm… The Godfather, probably. And…you."

My eyebrows rose so high, they were probably hidden in my hair line. "Me?" I squeaked. He would take me? Then I laughed at myself, "Aww, you are such a suck up. Are you trying to soften me up so I'll go easy on you with the questions?" I grinned at him.

For a moment he said nothing. Then, "I don't know, is it working?"

I laughed, "Not even a little."

"Damn," he muttered which was followed by another of my laughs. He paused to think again, "Nah, it's for your conversation skills – it'd get pretty boring with only one movie and one book." I couldn't tell from his smile if he was being snarky or serious. Probably snarky.

"Oh, yeah, because I'm such a conversationalist." My eyes widened, "Are you trying to change the subject from this game? You still have eighteen more questions to answer," I said.

He sighed, "Okay, next."

"Have you ever been to jail?"

"No," he laughed.

"I saw that one coming. Which relationship appeals more to you; a wild passionate one or a quiet calm one?"

"Uhh…Both?" he asked. "Can I say both?"

I shrugged, "I guess so. Next question. Who are you attracted to at this time in your life?" I felt a blush begin to rise. And it wasn't because I wanted him to say me. Nope. No way. Definitely not.

He didn't say anything. A minute passed. Nothing. "Did you hear the question?" I asked, confused.

"Yeah, I heard it." That was all he said. He didn't elaborate. Maybe he was thinking, running through all the possibilities. He didn't seem like the kind of person who would obsess over a girl. Another minute passed and I became frustrated.

"Well?" I asked, in a tone that demanded an answer.

"Pass," he grinned.

I frowned at him, "You can't pass."

"Yes I can."

"No you can't."

"Fine, I forfeit. You win. Congratulations," he grinned. Unaffected in the least by his loss.

The space between my eyebrows was puckered as I scrutinised him. I was too confused to feel victorious; I didn't understand. He glanced at me before nudging me with his elbow.

"What? You won; smile a little," he said, repeatedly nocking me with his elbow until I did. A small laugh that was a cross between exasperation and annoyance escaped my lips and the game was up. I smile and stuck my tongue out at him.

"I won," I stated, though there was no need to. Clearly.

"So, now you can tell me something about yourself that no one knows," he said.

I frowned again, "That wasn't the deal," I pointed out.

"I know."

"What makes you think I want to tell you?"

He shrugged, "You don't have to, but I'd like it if you would."

I sighed. It was so annoying when people did that; giving you a way out of something while politely saying you would be disappointed if you took that way out.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Fine." I thought about it for a second. What does no one else know about me? Then it came to me and I couldn't believe I didn't think of it right away. It wasn't the kind of thing you forgot. "I have a tattoo."

His eyebrows shot up and his face conveyed complete shock. It was kind of funny. "Really?" he asked, surprise even colouring his tone.

"Don't look so surprised," I told him.

"It's just – I can't believe – a tattoo?" he asked incredulously. "Where is it?"

"Guess," I told him. Fire travelled down my body where his eyes travelled as he searched me for tell-tale marks. As if he'd find any.

"Shoulder?"

"Nope. If it was on my shoulder, more people would have seen it, thus making it known to others, "I pointed out.

"Right," his eyes scrutinised me as he tried to figure out where it could be, where on my body it was. I wear singlets, thin straps, bikinis. All fairly revealing clothing. Red coloured his cheeks as he became aware of the only places he hadn't seen of me. He cleared his throat, uncomfortable. I laughed and took pity on him. I reached up and swept my hair off my neck, while simulanteously turning so he could see the back of it.

"It's on my hair line," I said, pointing to what I knew was a black tattoo about the size of a bottle cap situated right in the middle of the back of my neck.

"What is it?" he asked. I dropped my hair and turned to face the front. It probably wasn't safe for him to be looking at me while driving the car.

"I got it in Spain, it's called La espiral de la vida. The spiral of life," I told him.

"How has no one seen it?" he asked, confused.

"Well, you hadn't, so it's not so surprising," I pointed out. Again. "My hair is always down, covering my neck. I hardly ever pull it up. Though lately, I have been putting it up more often. It will probably become public knowledge soon enough."

He shook his head, "You are full of surprises."

"I take that as a compliment," I said, leaning back in the chair and relaxing. Trees flashed by outside and I checked my watch. Not too long now and I would be getting a kitty. Excitement rose inside me and I grinned.

Ty looked over at me and when he saw my grin, he grinned too. He really does have a beautiful smile. I couldn't help hoping he was smiling for me.

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, so what did you think? Sorry it took so long.<strong>

**I know, i cut it off at weird times.**

**Reviews = LOVE. So if you review, i'll have to love you.**

**Anyway, thanks for reading.**


	13. Chapter 13

_White lips, pale face, breathing in the snowflakes, burnt lungs, sour taste. Lights gone, days end, struggling to pay rent…_

"I love this song," I said, turning away from watching the trees fly past.

"Never heard it," Ty replied.

"You've never heard it?" I asked disbelievingly.

"Nope."

"Huh. Where've you been living? Under a rock?" I teased.

He grinned at me, "Yeah. A small one." I laughed and shook my head. A comfortable silence fell over us and I didn't feel the need to break it. I was content to just sit there. Ty could make me calm and nervous all at once; it was ridiculous really. How could you be calm and nervous at the same time? It was impossible to be two opposites at the same time, and yet, I was.

"Take the next exit," I told him. "We'll end up at the shops. That is, if you don't mind," I backpedalled.

"No problem," he said. In retrospect, the drive felt a lot shorter than what I thought it was going to be.

A catchy jingle rang out and I glanced around.

"Oh," Ty said, reaching into him pocket, while keeping his eyes on the road. "Shit."

"Do you want help?" I asked nervously; we were travelling at a high speed.

"Could you get my phone out of my pocket and tell me who it is?" he asked. I reached over, slipping my hand into his pocket until my fingers touched cool metal. I pulled his phone out and looked at the screen.

"Private number," I told him.

"Okay, well just answer it," he said.

"You want me to answer your phone?" I asked, my eyebrow rising.

"Yeah," he sounded surprised that I was surprised.

I shrugged, "Okay." I clicked the 'answer' button. "Hello, Ty's phone, Nereida speaking."

"Who's this," a voice boomed out, demanding an answer and making me jump slightly. "And why do you have my son's phone?"

"He's driving at the moment, Mr Ridgemount, so he can't talk. I'm Nereida, I work at the hotel."

"Ah, yes, my son mentioned you. Something about a cat," he told me.

"Yes sir," I said, automatically adding the 'sir' part on. Out the corner of my eye I could see Ty grin at that part. I nudged him with my elbow.

"Well, could you please tell my son that his mother wants him home for dinner tonight," he said.

"Will do, sir."

"Thank you," he said, hanging up the phone. I put the phone back in Ty's pocket just as the shopping centre loomed ahead.

"Your dad said to tell you that your mother wants you home for dinner tonight," I told him.

"Okay. Thanks," he said.

"He also said that you've mentioned me to him. Have you been talking about me behind my back?" I joked. Suddenly, he looked a little uncomfortable, but it quickly disappeared.

"Maybe," he grinned. I gasped in mock hurt. Ty pulled into a car park and I got out, grabbing my bag and waiting for him to lock his car.

"What are we doing here again?" he asked.

"We're going on a shopping spree. Remember, you said you'd come into all the shops with me," I told him innocently. His eyes widened in a look of alarm and I burst out laughing. "Supplies for my new kitten, of course," I said and he relaxed.

"I thought you were serious for a second there and I'd have to be subjected to hours of torture," he smiled.

I sighed, shaking my head in a pitying way. The glass sliding doors opened and we walked in, automatically feeling the artificial air encircle my body. "Shopping is not torture."

"Oh, but it is. I don't know why girls like it so much!"

I shrugged, "I don't know why boys don't." We headed in the direction of a pet barn.

We rounded a corner and suddenly I spotted Molly, Polly and Katrina; three girls from my school in Churchill I briefly attended last year for about three weeks. In that time, I had found out four things about those three girls. They were nasty and catty. They would pretend to be friends with people only to benefit from them. They were boy crazy. They weren't very smart. At all. And I was not very keen to talk to them, so soon after I had to listen to them at school. However, thirteen years would still not be long enough.

Just as I was trying to figure out what to do, they spotted Ty. I watched their eyes widen, and then narrow as they zeroed in on his face. Molly licked her lips and Polly smiled in a similar way to how lions might when they spotted a plump antelope. I glanced at Ty, who hadn't noticed them. When I looked back at them, they were moving towards us, having finally noticed me.

In a panic, I grabbed Ty's arm, spinning us around. "Run," I said.

"What? Why?" he asked, confusion colouring his voice.

"Just run," I said, and took off, Ty right behind me. I hung a left and took off, going the long way around to the pet barn.

My feet pounded against the floor of the mall as I ran, zigzagging through the crowds and passages teeming with shoppers. I heard Ty right behind me as I passed people.

"Excuse me," I said, pushing past a small congregation of people talking together, blocking the walkway. I didn't even listen to their annoyed shouts. Up ahead, there were less people and Ty caught up beside me.

"What are we doing?" he asked. I glanced behind and didn't see anyone pursuing us.

"Running," I replied. I didn't expect to see them, either, as Molly, Polly and Katrina weren't the kind of girls to run about and get sweaty. It'd probably ruin their hair. When I was sure I couldn't see them in the crowd, I slowed, and so did Ty.

"I got that," Ty said dryly. "What I meant was why?"

I glanced at him, and he was watching me, waiting for my reply. I sighed.

"I saw some girls I don't particularly like," I said vaguely.

"You just had me run through a shopping centre. I think you can do better than that," he said. I sighed again, and spotting a bench up ahead, I made my way over and sat down.

"Fine. Molly, Polly and Katrina go to the school in Churchill I went to last year; they're who I saw just before. Let's just say…they weren't very nice to me. At all."

"What did they do?" Ty asked, sitting beside me.

"They just, made life difficult for me, they spread rumours about me, called me names behind my back, and then tried to be friends with me so they could sailing on my yacht, or cruising in the Caribbean with me. They didn't like me, just what I could offer them."

"Why? I mean, there must be a reason why they don't like you. In fact, I find it hard that there are people who don't like you," he said, obviously trying to make me feel better.

"Katrina, she's the leader, well her boyfriend is kind of…a man whore, to put it kindly. My first day there, she say him flirting with me. I guess that's why," I told him. He didn't say anything, he just frowned at the ground.

"They spotted you, and they liked what they saw, I guess, so they were coming towards us, but I really didn't want to talk to them, so I ran away. They were just…mean to me, to everyone. If I saw them, I'd want to prove all the things they said about to be wrong, I'd want to show them up. But I don't know how to do that kind of thing," I sighed.

"So, you just ran," Ty concluded. I nodded.

"What did they say about you?" he asked. Why did he have to be so curious?

"A lot of stuff. That I didn't have any friends, that no one wanted to be my friend. That I was a spoiled little rich girl. That no one liked me. That no boy would ever like me, especially not a good-looking one, and one certainly wouldn't fall in love with me. That's mean and everything, but do you want to know the worst part; the part that hurt the most? They said stuff about my mum. They said she couldn't have loved me," I finished, quietly. "What was I supposed to say to something like? How could I deny it, when I don't know?"

"Don't," Ty said angrily. I glanced at him in surprise, only to see hard lines of anger on his face. Momentarily, I forgot what we were talking about; all I could think was how I'd never seen him angry before. I didn't even think he was capable of getting angry, and here he was, absolutely livid. "Don't say stuff like that. Your mum loved you, I'm sure of it. How could she not?" he shook his head, the anger dying, but annoyance remaining. "Those girls only picked on you because they were jealous. Okay? Trust me on that. There are girls like that at my school; you just need to show them you aren't afraid of them, that their words don't affect you, that you don't care what they say because they're just silly, nasty, ignorant girls who aren't satisfied with their own lives and can only be happy when they put others down," he told me fiercely, grabbing my shoulders and staring intensely into my eyes. My eyes were wide, and my mouth was open in a small 'o'.

"Next time we see them, we won't run. If they come over to us, show them you don't care what they say. Show them they're wrong about you, about everything they said about you. Okay?" he asked, still staring into my eyes. His eyes were such a beautiful, crystalline blue, so amazing that I had to blink to clear my foggy mind.

I shook my head, "I don't even know how to do that kind of thing."

"Unfortunately, you don't have Lo with you here; she excels at this sort of thing. But, fortunately you have me," he grinned. "And I've seen my sister in action enough times to know what to do. Just follow my lead."

I looked at him a moment, wondering how one boy could be so…perfect. That was the only word for it; perfect. He was perfect. I looked at his earnest expression and smiled hesitantly.

"Okay," I said.

"Good. Okay, let's go to that pet barn." He looked over at me, "Head high."

"Head high," I said, looking up instead of at my feet, the way I usually do.

"They don't scare you," he said.

"They don't scare me," I repeated.

"They don't know you," he said.

"They don't know me," I repeated.

"You're amazing," he said.

"I'm-" I stopped, blushing and looking at him.

"Say it," he insisted.

"I'm amazing," I said quietly, looking to the side.

"What was that? I didn't hear you," he said, nudging my side.

I shook my head and half-smiled. "I'm amazing."

"Yes you are. And you're going to give those girls a taste of their own medicine," he grinned.

"And I'm going to give those girls a taste of their own medicine." I thought for a moment. "If I can," I tacked on. I glanced at Ty, "I don't want to be mean to them. I just want to show them they're wrong."

"Fine, we won't be mean."

"Thanks," I smiled at him. "I mean it."

"No problem Nereida."

We walked along the shops, heading back to the pet barn. My stomach was doing flip flops but by the time we neared the pet barn, I was sure I wouldn't see them again and I started to relax. We rounded a corner and ran smack bang into them. I froze. My mind went black and all I could do was stare.

Katrina smiled; it wasn't a nice smile. "Nereida, darling, I almost didn't recognise you; you look so good," he voice was high and sickeningly sweet. Molly and Polly giggled stupidly. My jaw clenched at the backhanded compliment. It would have been kinder if she had slapped me.

She had been talking to me, but her eyes kept sliding across to Ty, checking him out. Molly and Polly both unabashedly appraised him with their eyes. I glanced at Ty and saw him staring at Katrina, hard. She shifted uncomfortably, but otherwise didn't care. She flipped her hair and gave him a blinding smile.

"We were just talking about you," Polly said.

"I'll bet," I said dryly.

"Yes, we were wondering how you've been," Molly asked, faux politeness entering her voice.

"Fine." I said. I was going to leave it at that, but then Ty squeezed my hand and I remembered what he had said; show them they were wrong. "Actually, you'll never believe this, but Lo, Fin, Emma, and I, my best friends," I explained. "We're surfing at the office, right, and Broseph, this really chilled dude came over, and so did Reef, and we-"

Suddenly, Katrina cut me off with a laugh, "You're right, I don't believe it." that shut me up. My fists clenched and I realised I was still holding Ty's hand.

"No, it's true," Ty cut in. I could hear his voice was strained as he tried to sound polite. "They were carving up some amazing tricks."

"Who's your friend?" Molly asked.

"He is your friend right? I mean, he couldn't be your boyfriend," Polly laughed, as if the idea was absurd.

My face flushed and anger bubbled up in my chest. Okay, so he wasn't my boyfriend, but they just assumed! They didn't think a boy as good-looking as Ty would ever be interested in me.

"Well, no-" I was cut off as Ty pulled me against him and pressed his lips to mine in a soft kiss. I was so shocked that for a moment I couldn't move, couldn't respond. But then I felt his soft lips move against mine and I melted into him, against him. His hand was splayed against my lower back, holding me there; a good thing too, otherwise my legs would have turned to jelly and sunk to the floor. My body melded against his perfectly, as if he had been designed to fit against me, like a puzzle piece. I stood on my tip-toes to reach his mouth better, wrapping one arm around his neck and knotting my hand in his hair. He pulled me closer, as if that was even possible. His other hand rested against the side of my neck as he held my face close, his tongue gently running along my lower lip, asking permission. My lips parted of their own accord and everything else disintegrated as his tongue entered my mouth. My pulse pounded in my ears, but I didn't mind one little bit. I soaked up the ecstasy of his mouth on mine, his hands on me, feeling on the verge of bursting out of my skin-

And then he was pulling away. A second passed and I blinked, confused. Suddenly I was aware of how badly I needed air and I breathed in deeply as everything came back to me, making its way into my addled mind. Kissing Ty had made every last harboured worry and insecurity evaporate. I untangled myself from him and turned away so he wouldn't see how worked up a couple of seconds of kissing had made me. Internally, I was screaming with joy and I turned to face Molly, Polly and Katrina.

I glanced at Ty, unable to speak. My lips tingled and a giddy smile tilted the corners up. Who knew kissing felt like this?

"Yes," Ty said. "I'm her boyfriend. We've been dating a while now. Isn't she amazing?" he asked them, looking at me. His hand was back in my own, his palm pressed against mine. Right, this was a game. We were showing off to them, proving Molly, Polly and Katrina wrong. I frowned. How were we proving them wrong, if he wasn't really my boyfriend? That didn't make sense. "I'm so lucky to have her."

They just stared at us, dumbfounded, not even bothering to hide their disbelief and incredulousness.

"If you'll excuse us, we have somewhere we need to be. Right, babe?" he asked me.

I nodded weakly and he pulled me along with him, leaving them there to stare after us. Looking at their faces, I didn't care if we were technically lying. I felt good; I'd proved them wrong and shoved my happiness in their faces.

When we rounded the next corner, Ty dropped my hand and looked at me apologetically. "Sorry," he said. I raised an eyebrow at him. What was he sorry for? He just helped me stick it to them. "I didn't mean to kiss you, they just really ticked me off, and when they implied I couldn't be your boyfriend, I did the first thing that came to mind to prove otherwise. It just…happened." He looked at me when I said nothing. "Are you mad?"

I cleared my throat, blushing. "No."

"Good. Because I don't want things to be awkward between us, or anything…" he trailed off. Of course, he didn't like me like _that_. He was a friend, helping out a friend. It was ridiculous to think otherwise. My lips still tingled. Hadn't I wanted to know what it would be like to kiss his lips? Yes. And now I had found out. Whoever he married would be one lucky girl.

I smiled at him, as if nothing had changed, "Of course not," I said, filling in the silence. He looked relieved and we continued on to the pet barn in companionable silence.

I replayed the kiss in my mind, over and over again. What was I going to do? I needed to tell someone; something this big couldn't just happen in silence. If I tried to keep it a secret, I would burst. I couldn't tell Fin; she would just rub it in my face, telling me that she told me so. And I couldn't tell Emma; oh, crap, _Emma_. This would kill her; absolutely destroy her. Jesus, what was I supposed to do with that?

I glanced at Ty. He looked fine, watching ahead, walking around people. He had kissed me, and he didn't look like he particularly wanted to do it again. He was indifferent. He didn't like _me_ like that. But, maybe he could like Emma like that. At the thought, my stomach sunk and I shook my head. If Emma dated Ty, it would kill me. God, I was so confused. I needed to talk to someone, but that only left…Lo. Oh, yeah, she'd be thrilled to talk about her brother kissing! Not. But, she was my friend. She would help, even if the idea of anyone kissing Ty was repulsive to her.

Everything had changed for me, though.

Because I did want to kiss him again.

And I couldn't.

* * *

><p><strong>So, what did you think?<strong>

**A Big Thank You must go to AnaleighJames, for prodding me; without her perspective and help, i probably wouldn't have gotten around to writing this chapter.**

**And, of course, a Big Thank You to my reviewers! Your encouragement means a lot to me; it gives me inspiration to keep writing!**

**:)**


	14. Chapter 14

We left the pet barn with Kitten food, bowls and litter, and, for the first time since meeting Ty, an awkward silence. My shoulders were tense and I was uncomfortable with the oppressive silence, but no matter how much I wanted to break the silence, I couldn't think of a damn thing to say. The longer the silence went for, the more ridiculous I felt. The memory of his lips on mine only made me feel like a bigger idiot.

I cleared my throat, opened my mouth to say something, anything, then shut it again. Then tried again, "So…" I said at the same time as Ty. We looked at each other a moment before I burst into laughter, it was just so ridiculous. A second later I was joined by Ty's deep rumbling chuckles.

"So much for it not being awkward," he said between chuckles.

"I know." The last thing I want is it to be awkward with Ty, especially when he had been such a good friend. I wanted things to go back to the way they were before the kiss, not this awkward silence where we were both uncomfortable, because all that would serve is to push us away from each other. And I didn't want to lose Ty. The words slipped out before my brain even recognised that I had an idea, "Maybe we should make a pact to forget it ever happened."

I didn't know if I could forget it, ever. Heck, I didn't want to forget it, but forgetting it was better than the alternative. Wasn't it just a couple minutes ago when we were acting like nothing had changed? Before we walked into the pet barn? Yep, and then I had to ruin it in the pet barn and make it awkward.

Ty looked at me like he was puzzled and trying to figure something out. Then, in a quiet, unaffected tone, asked, "Is that what you want?"

What the hell did that mean? Heat coloured my cheeks as his deep blue eyes focused on me. Usually his eyes were so calming, so like the sea, but now they looked like a storm was brewing in the distance. He watched me so closely, like he was seeing all of me at once and I got the feeling that if my fingers twitched, he'd see it. "Um, isn't that what you want?"

A moment of silence. I stared at my feet as I walked across the rough pavement of the parking lot towards his car. "Yeah, I guess, if it's what you want."

I really didn't understand him. Here I was, offering him an out. Offering him a chance to let this _thing_ pass us by. Why the hell wasn't he taking it already? My actions around him would be as if he had never kissed me. I wouldn't jerk away from him so forcibly that I'd fall on my butt if his hand accidentally brushed against mine, like I did in the pet barn, because I'd have no reason to. There would be no reason to be awkward, or uncomfortable. Yes, I saw the flaws in this plan. How am I supposed to just forget a memory? I can't. So, how am I supposed to act like the kiss never happened? I can't. The pact was more of a verbal statement that we would attempt to forget it. and besides, this way we were addressing the issue at hand, not dancing around it, avoiding it in the way that will only make the situation worse.

"Yeah, I guess," I said slowly, frowning at him. He could be so confusing. There were times when I understood him perfectly, and then were times, like now, where his tone and words and actions were so unexpected, so surprising and downright confusing.

"Okay then." There was finality in his voice and I had a fleeting feeling of regret, which disappeared when I remembered he had a girlfriend. He had a girlfriend, for Christ sakes! He couldn't just kiss me willy-nilly. He just couldn't do that.

"Okay then," I repeated. Ty opened the boot of his car for me and I put the kitten supplies in. "Thanks." And then he had to do something sweet like that, opening doors for me like it was natural to him, and I would just melt, my resolve dissipating.

"No problem," his voice carried an air of easy confidence again, it was more like him and I wondered if it was so easy for him to forget the kiss and move on. I'm pretty sure my heart weltered a little. "So, next stop is the animal shelter, right?"

"Yep," I forced a smile to my lips, hoping it looked natural, though I had a sneaking suspicion that it didn't. "Thanks."

"You don't have to keep thanking me," he threw me a half-smile as he put his seatbelt on.

"Yeah, well, it's nice of you to do this," I said, not needing to fake the genuine warmth this time.

He just shook my thanks off, smiling. He drove off and I looked at the clock, 10:02. Plenty of time.

"Oh no," I said.

"What?" Ty asked, looking at me, then at the road, like he was thinking he might need to pull over, or something.

"Oh, my God, I'm such an idiot," I said, rummaging around in my bag, searching for my phone.

"What?" Ty asked again.

"I didn't ask my dad if I could adopt this kitten," I said, finding my phone and dialling his number. Jesus, I was such an idiot.

Ty laughed, "Will he be mad?"

"I hope not," I replied, dialling his number and crossing my fingers. If he was in a meeting, he would be in one for hours. "Please don't be in a meeting, please don't be in a meeting, please don't be-"

"Sweetheart, what's wrong?" my dad's firm but gentle voice sounded through my phone, calm and soothing. His voice brought back memories of when I was younger, and I realised I missed him. It felt like years had passed since I'd seen him last, when really it had only been a couple weeks. My gut lurched in homesickness and I wanted to be able to reach through the phone and hug him.

"What makes you think something's wrong?" I replied, hoping that something wasn't about to be wrong.

"I didn't expect to hear from you so soon, is all," he replied, there was typing in the background, and I wondered if it was him or his secretary doing the typing.

"Uh, are you busy dad?"

"Not at the moment," I could hear the frown in his voice, "Nereida, is something wrong?" must be the secretary typing.

"No, no, it's just…how do you feel about cats?" I tried to pose the question casually.

"Cats? Why?" I would have laughed at the confusion in his voice if I didn't need an answer soon.

"Do you like cats?" I asked, trying again.

"I guess so. What's this about?"

"How would you feel about having a new member of the family?"

"A new member of the family? Nereida, are you pregnant?" anger coloured his tone, "You're only sixteen, for christ's sake!"

"Pregnant?" I asked, outraged, "No, dad, I meant a cat! Seriously, I'm talking about cats and you automatically think I'm pregnant?"

Ty was laughing beside me, so I elbowed him, hard. Red tinged my cheeks and his lips were spread in a wide grin. He looked back at the road, his grin remaining.

"Oh, well, a cat sound's fine, darling," his tone conveyed his relief. "But, where are you?"

"On my way to the animal shelter."

"Okay, but don't you have work? Are you even allowed to have a cat at work, because no one is at home to look after it." there was rustling that sounded like paper being moved, and I assumed he was going through files.

"Don't worry, it's all sorted," I told him.

"Well, okay then. Have fun. Was there anything else? Did you need money?" sometimes, his easy ability to just hand me some of his affluence without even thinking about it bothered me. Having things handed to me my whole life only made me determined to not take money from him. Sometimes, it was smothering, in a weird way, and it was partly why I wanted to get a job and get away having my father hand me money when I asked, not bothered in the least. We'd never have money problems.

"It's okay, I have my bank card still. There's money on it. Thanks dad. Bye."

"Bye sweetheart." The line went dead. A full second of silence passed before Ty laughed.

"Pregnant?" Ty asked.

"Shut up. He misinterpreted, okay?" I told him, but he just continued to smile. "Can I turn the radio on?"

"Go for it," he gestured to the machine.

I turned the volume knob and was greeted by a familiar tune and I smiled, singing along.

"_She's got a wicked sense of humour, can't believe what she says, she drinks Bacardi in the morning till it goes to her head, and all you want is just to hold her but she don't go for that, she has a hard time coming when she can't hit back, sayin' yeah, and you want her but she's so mean…"_

I sang all the time, to calm myself down, to relax. Once I started singing, the music worked its way into my body, my system, even my soul and then I would be filled with a need to join in the rhythm, the song in any way I could. To be a part of something that had always been a part of life since the beginning; song and dance. My mother had been a beautiful singer and I always felt more connected to her when I sang, a connection to her existence, a testament to her memory and it made me wonder if she was looking down on me. If she was happy. If she was proud of me. I just felt happier when I sang, even though my voice was nowhere near amazing or beautiful. I stopped when I realised Ty was looking at me. I laughed, looking at my lap, before flicking my eyes up to him. A half-smile tilted his lips as he drove. "I like this song."

"I got that," he said.

"_She's like a one-way ticket cause you can't come back,"_ I sung again. And Ty stared at me. Really, it was dangerous to keep doing that; he needed to pay attention to the road.

It was funny, but I felt comfortable enough around Ty to sing in front of him. I never do that. And yet, I was. Over the years, I'd come to realise that when I sung with or in front of someone, it meant that I liked them enough, or was comfortable enough around them to not be embarrassed at my bad pitch and tone.

The next thing I knew, we were pulling into the parking lot outside the Animal shelter I directed him to. Inside, the clinic had a strong, sterile smell, as if disinfectant was sprayed everywhere. It gave me a headache and I wondered how anyone could work here all day long.

Sitting behind a desk was a man in his late twenties, his face was pale, like he sat inside behind that desk most of the time. His blue eyes were bland in comparison to Ty's, no competition.

"Uh, hi, I talked to someone named Greg about adopting a –"

"Kitten? Yeah, I remember." He shuffled bits of paper around on his desk before laying some out in front of me when I noticed the badge on his shirt that read 'Greg'. "Fill these out and I'll go get him."

I filled it out, signing in the last box just as the Greg came back out with a cardboard box, placing it on the bench. He grabbed the paper work, typing it into the computer and I looked in the box. Large blue eyes blinked at me and then there was a meow, followed by a loud purring, as he attempted to get out of the box. I giggled, reaching in and petting him. He pressed his small face into my hand. Purring started, loud, and I smiled, the vibrations tingling my hand as I stroked his soft, fluffy fur. I handed over my bank card when asked, one hand staying on the kitten in case he decided to jump out. Vaguely, I noticed Ty making polite conversation with Greg while I became absorbed in petting the kitten.

And then we were leaving. We must have been in there for about twenty minutes but I barely even noticed to time pass. The kitten's blue eyes were beautifully hypnotising, compelling and I remember why I'd been so drawn to the kitten in the first place, when I'd picked him up that time near my house. The kitten's eyes were a startlingly dark blue. I didn't even know eyes could be that dark of a blue. They were intelligent eyes which watched me carefully as I picked up the cardboard box and headed out. I nearly forgot my handbag, which Ty grabbed before pushing the door open for me. I smiled up at him, a genuine smile and I could practically feel the happiness shine out from my eyes. Ty's reply smile was somewhere between dumbstruck and content.

We got back in his car and then we were heading back to the hotel, the sleek car gliding over the rough road. We stopped at traffic lights and Ty looked at the kitten.

"Are you going to pat him?" I asked Ty.

Tentatively, he reached a hand over to the kitten, who promptly swiped a tiny paw at him. He retracted his hand immediately, "Uh, I don't think so."

"Kitty," I admonished, talking to him like he was a person, "Be nice to Ty. He's the main reason you're alive right now. Besides, it's rude." For the life of me, the kitten looked like he was cringing under my scolding, like he understood what I was saying. Impossible, of course. I turned back to Ty, "He promises not to do it again. You can pat him now."

Ty looked at me incredulously, "It's okay."

"Seriously, pat him. He'll be nice this time, won't you?" I asked the kitten, who purred in response. Ty reached over, pausing just before he reached the kitten. When he didn't swipe at Ty, he pat him. The kitten looked like he was tolerating it, but just barely. Must be a male thing.

The light turned green and Ty moved his hand away, looking at me disbelievingly. The kitten relaxed visibly.

"So, I can add animal whisperer on your list?"

"My list?" I asked, looking at him, confused.

"You can sing, you can surf, you're intelligent, you're a people person, you're nice, you like to read, you can draw apparently-" I cut him off.

"How did you know that?" I frowned. I'd never drawn anything in front of him before. How could he possibly know that?

"Lo said something about a sketch book just asking to be looked at." Of course. Lo. Honestly, I don't go through her stuff.

"Is there anything you can't do?" he asked and I would have laughed if he didn't sound serious, like it was a genuine question.

"Of course. There is a lot of things I can't do."

"Like?" he prompted.

I rolled my eyes, "Technology hates me; it's out to get me, I swear."

"That's it? That's all you can come up with?"

"No. I'm not very good at sports," I replied, thinking it over.

"Really?" he almost sounded like he didn't believe me.

"Yeah, I have reasons for that," I laughed. "I have no patience for golf, I think car racing is stupid, I think hockey is too violent, I don't consider wrestling a sport, I don't even understand football and I suck at basketball, baseball, soccer and volleyball."

"Is that it?"

"No," I said indignantly. "I suck at talking to people I don't know. I'm too shy."

"You talked to me," Ty pointed out.

"That's different," I muttered. I didn't know why, it just was. "Would you let me finish?"

"Go ahead," he said.

"Look, I can only sing averagely, I can only draw averagely, I can-" this time Ty cut me off.

"Please don't say 'I can only surf averagely'. I thought you weren't one of those overly modest girls," Ty groaned.

"Actually, I was going to say I can surf pretty well. I'm not self-deprecating. I'm not the smartest or the nicest person in the world. And, honestly, if animals like me, then it's because they're picking up on something, I have no control over it. You know how they're supposed to be able to smell fear and danger and stuff, so maybe my intentions are just easier to read than everyone else's. Everybody has one or two things they are exceptionally good at and a bunch of stuff they are okay at. Which is the situation here," I sighed. I hated talking about myself and here Ty was, pointing out stuff like that, making me sound better than I actually am. It could only lead to disappointment.

He shook his head at me. "You're amazing."

"I think you're building me up too much," I said quietly, internally telling myself to get over the happy feeling that rose in my chest at his words. Did he really think I was amazing?

"You don't like talking about yourself, do you?" he asked, glancing at me sideways.

"Not at all," I grimaced.

"We can stop then." He said, looking back at the road.

"Thanks," I said, grateful for him dropping the subject. My fingers played with the kitten's soft fur. "I think I'll call you…Zeus," I grin. The tempo of Zeus' purring increased and I assumed he liked the name.

"Zeus? As in…" Ty asked.

"As in Greek God, ruler of them all, yep." I grin.

"Good name."

"Thanks."

We drove in silence and I watched Zeus, listening to his calming purring. His fur was fluffy and black, but every now and then there was a strand of white fur sticking out from his body. His little body was so warm that my hands got a little sweaty when I was patting him. I'd only had him for a little while but I was already absolutely in love with him.

My phone chimed, signalling an incoming message. It scared Zeus, who stopped purring, his ears flattening against his head, looking at me, watching to see what I would do. I reached into my bag, pulling out my phone and glancing at the screen. It was from Emma.

_Nereida, can you try to find out what Ty thinks of me?! Please? How's the kitten?_

I stared at the screen blankly, feeling the roiling in my gut. There were moments when I forgot Emma liked Ty and I felt happier. Then I would be reminded that one of my first real friends in my whole life was crushing on the guy that I was beginning to realise I liked. A lot. What was I supposed to do in this kind of situation? Emma liked him, she was so sweet and she felt like my sister. I didn't want to do anything to ruin that. But. But in the time I'd spent with him, I was most definitely falling for him. I liked Ty in a way I'd never felt for any other guy. That could be contributed to my lack of a social life and general awkwardness towards guys I felt attracted to. But there was just something about Ty. Something that made me want to be around him all the time. To just sit in his company, not needing to say anything. And I couldn't get his kiss out of my head.

But I didn't think he liked me like that. It didn't seem like he did. But then again, I was the last person to know anything about this kind of stuff. I could admit to myself, I was curious about what he felt towards Emma. I had to ignore the jealous feeling rising in my chest.

I quickly punched a reply to Emma.

_Kitten is adorable. I'll see what I can do._

It was less than thirty seconds later when a reply chimed back to me.

_Thanks! I owe you one!_

Now, how to ask him, without making it obvious that Emma liked him. Then again, he didn't seem to be aware of the girls watching him as he walked by. He didn't seem aware of the seemingly endless line of girls pining after, desperately wanting a chance to go out with him.

"What do you think of Emma?" I asked, getting straight to it. clearly, from my conversation with my dad, I could not do subtlety.

"Who's Emma?" he frowned and I swear I could have slapped my hand against my forehead in hopelessness. You know, Emma? The girl who sends you adoring glances? The one pining after you? Then again, that probably didn't narrow it down enough.

"My friend. She works in the DR with me."

"Oh. Oh, Emma. Didn't she take that kook to the office?" he asked, the only hint at his annoyance was the slight crease between his eyebrows.

"She didn't realise," I automatically defended. He didn't say anything.

"Well?" I prompted, curious.

"Well what?" he asked and I wondered if he was avoiding my question or if he really didn't know what I was asking.

"What do you think of her?" I asked exasperatedly.

"Oh. Um, she's okay?" he posed it like a question. I wondered if he sensed this was an important question and he wanted to give me the right answer.

"Just okay?" I prodded.

"Well, I don't know all that much about her, but she seems nice enough," he shrugged. Then he frowned at me. "What do you think of Ripper?"

"I-what?" I asked, confused. What the hell was he thinking? This was one of those times when he didn't make sense.

"What do you think of him?" he prodded in the same way I had.

"Uh, he's nice? He's good to talk to. Very open. Sweet," I said, thinking it over. I glanced at Ty and he was frowning, staring at the road. "Sometimes I wish I was telepathic so I could read your mind and figure out what you're thinking."

"Well, I'm glad you're not," he grinned.

I smiled, "Because then I'd know all your secrets?"

"Pretty much."

"Why did you ask me what I thought of Ripper?" I asked, puzzled.

"Why did you ask me what I thought of Emma?" he asked, equally puzzled.

I turned away, shrugging, "I dunno. Curious, I guess." Right, because I'm going to tell you that Emma has a major crush on you. You just don't betray your friends like that.

"Yeah. Curious."

I looked out the window, relaxing into the chair. Every now and then, I'd look over at Ty. He really was beautiful. My Apollo. My sun. He was so warm and bright. He made me happy to just be near him. I knew Emma would want more than just a testament to the fact that Ty was oblivious to her, but this moment was my own. I could talk to him another time, maybe after he'd gotten to know her more, or something.

The silence wasn't awkward, like it was at the Pet Barn. Now it was a comfortable silence. An easy, not even having to try, kind of silence. The return trip was over quickly and I realised I'd been zoning out for at least an hour, absentmindedly patting Zeus. We got out of the car and Ty grabbed my cat supplies from the boot, locking the car and following me as I carried the box.

"Thank you. For today." I said, feeling my calf muscles slowly waking up after a while of not doing anything.

"No problem," he shrugged it off and I got the feeling he didn't like people thanking him. Kind of like I didn't like talking about myself.

"Really, though. I appreciate it a lot," I stared straight ahead. I didn't want to make him uncomfortable but I did feel the need to thank him profusely.

"You're welcome." He said. "It's okay. I'd do anything you asked me to anyway," he chuckled and I looked at him funny.

"Uh…" I said, frowning.

"Oh, no, I mean, that is, if you asked me to do something, I'd do it." then he slapped a hand against his forehead. "I mean, because it's you. I _mean_ – " I started laughing, bumping my shoulder against his arm, because he was taller than me.

"Don't hurt yourself," I grinned and his face slowly relaxed as well. "I think I know what you mean."

He let out a short laugh.

Inexplicably, I felt the urge to gently rest my head against his strong looking shoulder and walk slowly, revelling the moment before we were around other people as well. This time I spent with just Ty was different to time I spent with him and the guys as well. There was something different about them, something intimate and quieter. He made me calm and nervous at the same time. I realised again how he made me want to be around him. I felt tingles along my arm where his skin came into contact with mine and I nearly shivered. The recollection of his lips came back to me and I wanted him to kiss me again. God, did I want him to kiss me.

The sun shone down on us and he just looked so good, so warm. His skin was tan and sun kissed, his hair shinning almost a gold colour in the direct light, his eyes so clear and fresh and ridiculously calming. If I touched his skin right now I would probably feel heat radiate from him. Though, heat and light radiated from him all the time.

There was no doubt about it.

He was my personal sun.

And I really didn't want to share.

* * *

><p><strong>So, what did you think?<strong>

**I'm so sorry it took ridiculously long to update. There is really no excuse. Well, there is an excuse, but it's probably not good enough. School. Funny how that one word says it all.**

**Anway, Thank you so much to those who reviewed and who follow and favourite and alert and everything! You guys really don't know how much it means to me. Seriously. Your kind words make me so happy. I get ridiculously happy everytime I see one!**

**AnaleighJames - Thanks so much for throwing ideas around with me ages ago. It helped me so much! Did you see the part about asking Ty what he thought of Emma? Yeah, I managed to incorporate it. :) Thanks.**


	15. Chapter 15

We walked up the wooden steps to the veranda when Emma came charging out, zeroing in on Zeus straight away. "Aww," she cried. "Is it a he or a she?"

"He. His name is Zeus," I told her, my hand coming up to stroke his head when he shied away from Emma's exuberance, shrinking into the corner of the box. Confusing kitten; he was all swipe-y with Ty and all shy with Emma.

"Aww, he's adorable," Emma crooned, bringing her hand up to gently pat Zeus' head. Slowly Zeus relaxed. Then Emma looked up at Ty before glancing shyly away. Ty didn't notice; his attention was on Lo as she walked towards us, pulling a face at him. "Oh, uh, hi Ty."

"Hey Emma," he said absentmindedly, shaking his head at Lo and not really paying attention to Emma at all. She looked slightly disappointed and I elbowed Ty, giving him a meaningful look. Surprisingly, he interpreted my look perfectly.

"How are you?" Ty asked Emma, pointedly paying attention to what she said. Her face light up like a Christmas tree and jealousy flared in my gut. I told myself to not be so stupid, but I couldn't help it. It might not have been a good idea to get him to pay so much attention to Emma, especially if he was telling the truth and didn't harbour any particular interest in her. I felt guilty immediately.

"I'm really good. How are you?" She coyly tucked some hair behind her ear, looking up through her lashes.

"Not too bad," Ty replied kindly, though he didn't seem to be paying so much attention to what she was doing.

"He's not going to, like, sleep in my bed, or anything right?" Lo asked, wrinkling her nose slightly and folding her arms across her chest.

"No," I grinned at her.

"Good, because I don't want cat fur on my stuff. Besides, he could have all kinds of germs and fleas," Lo shuddered.

I rolled my eyes at her, "Lo, Zeus is adorable. Would you seriously kick him out of your bed?"

"Hell no," Fin said, coming over to Zeus and making googoo faces at him, like someone would to a baby. "He's too cute."

"Whatever," Lo muttered as Fin went to pat Zeus. He swiped at her hand, similarly to what he did to Ty, but this time I sensed indignation coming from Zeus. It must have been the way his ears flattened against his head, but he seemed annoyed at Fin.

"Hey!" Fin cried, yanking her hand away.

"Glad I'm not the only one," Ty muttered near my ear and I turned to him, grinning. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lo tilt her head to the side, like she was considering something, eyebrows creased. A puzzle inside her head was slowly coming together, I could tell.

"Fin, everyone knows cats don't like being spoken to like they're idiots," I told her.

"He's a cat," she frowned. "He doesn't know what I'm saying."

"Yeah, but he understands your patronising tone," I grinned and she rolled her eyes at me.

"Whatever. Hi there Zeus, my name's Fin and I promise I won't kick you out of my bed like ice queen over there would," Fin amended, looking to me to see if she was speaking right before attempting to pat him. This time he conceded to her hand, purring as she tickled the fur on his head. "I think he likes me."

I shifted the box, which was becoming heavy in my arms, and Ty steered me towards the sofa, his fingers lightly touching the small of my back, guiding me. I smiled at him as he successfully navigated me around Emma and Fin who were crowding the box and making it impossible for me to move. I had been standing right on the edge of the steps, so I couldn't really step backwards without falling down them. His fingers were warm, of course, pressing gently against the small strip of skin visible from where my singlet had ridden up slightly, and he took the box when I sat down, even though he was holding my groceries, before handing the box to me again once I was settled. I smiled as he sat next to me, and I glanced back up in time to see Lo's jaw drop, practically hitting the ground. My eyes widened and I looked around, wondering what had her looking so stunned, surprised and incredulous. Fin, beside her, had a sort of quizzical look on her face, like she was seeing something important but wasn't quite sure what to make of it yet. Emma, on the other hand, had her eyes glued to Zeus and she sank down on the arm rest beside me so as to reach him better.

Zeus seemed to be slowly warming to Emma as she diligently scratched at his head, even though she was making faces at him. She probably didn't even realise she was doing it, but Zeus didn't seem to appreciate it.

"I'm so tired," I yawned, leaning back against the soft chair, eyes closing. It had sort of been a long day and it was only half way over. Lunch sounded good right about now, but I couldn't make myself get up and get food.

"What could you two possibly have been doing to make Nereida so exhausted?" Fin asked. Even with my eyes closed I knew she was smirking. You could hear it in her voice, coating her words like honey. Then what she said registered and my head snapped up, hurting my neck in the process, and I glared at her. The traitorous blush made its way to my cheeks. I didn't say anything and the words just hung there in the air.

I glanced at Emma, feeling guilty even though I didn't really have to feel guilty about kissing Ty, seeing as we were supposed to forget it and it didn't mean what I wanted it to mean. It's not like Emma was dating him or anything. Emma looked up, frowning. I looked away, at my hands as they methodically ran through Zeus' fur. He moved in closer to me, through the box, his small head pushing harder against my hands.

"Huh?" Emma asked, confused and I was thankful for her obliviousness.

"Gross," Lo muttered and I wanted to groan in embarrassment. I shifted uncomfortably.

"I just meant," Fin started again. This time, I could see her smirk that absolutely spelled trouble for me. "Because Nereida is _exhausted_, and she only went to get a kitten – "

"Apparently shopping is tiring work," Ty cut in smoothly, gesturing at the plastic bags at his feet containing the cat supplies, and I let out a tiny sigh of relief that Fin wasn't going to ruin everything in front of Emma like that. I was eternally grateful Ty could be so tactful, but I couldn't bring myself to look at him. My hair dangled down, obscuring the sides of my face, hiding me as I looked down at Zeus, but if he tried, he'd be able to see my pink cheeks through the strands.

"Right. Shopping," Fin said in a voice that said she didn't entirely believe him and that she would be getting back to me about this, most likely when he left. I made a plan to avoid her.

Kelly walked down the stairs, holding a towel and a magazine. I thought she'd be working but she must have the afternoon off or something. She glanced at us, sitting around the box before looking inside the box. "Is that it?" her voice sounded nasally and I wondered if she had a cold. It sounded worse than usual.

"His name is Zeus. Do you want to pet him?" I asked politely, though I didn't really want her coming near my kitten.

"It can't stay here," she said. Nobody moved. Nobody said anything and I stared at her, as if she was kidding and at any second she'd say 'joking'. When she didn't, I levelled my gaze at her, feeling my lips press into a line, my chin lifting up.

"What did you just say?" I asked quietly, though I could hear the undercurrent of trouble in my own voice. I stood up, placing the box where I was sitting and waited for Kelly to answer. She didn't seem perturbed by my tone.

"I said it can't stay here, are you deaf?" she flung the towel over her shoulder, turning to walk off. Anger bubbled up inside me and my fists clenched. "I think I'm allergic."

"You think you're allergic?" I said, slowly again, like I was mulling the words over, seeing what they sounded like together. "You've got to be kidding me."

"Do I look like I'm kidding you?" Kelly said, irritation in her stuffy voice.

"And you didn't think to mention that last night when I asked you?!" I shouted at her. I was absolutely livid at her, I was so angry. Why did she have to be so unhelpful, so irritating, so, so goddamn spiteful? I threw my hands up in the air, "What is wrong with you?"

"Excuse me?" Kelly asked, something dark and angry looking flashing in her own eyes. "What's wrong with _me_? I think the _real_ question is what's wrong with you!"

Ripper appeared at the top of the stairs near us, walking down, "Sheila's, what's with all the noise?" his eyes spotted Zeus, "Is this the little tyke then? Bit small."

"His name is Zeus," I heard Emma whisper to him and I looked back at her. Her eyes were wide, stuck on me and Kelly.

"Don't get too attached," Kelly called. "He's going to have to leave."

"Kelly, don't be such a cow," Lo said to her.

"Leave?" I asked incredulously, stepping towards her. "Where the hell is he supposed to go? Huh? Tell me that."

"I don't know, and honestly, I don't really care," she shrugged, turning to walk off again, but I grabbed her shoulder, swinging her back around to face me. "Hey! Get your hands off me!"

"You said – you said you weren't allergic to cats last night," I shouted, pointing a finger at her. My jaw locked up.

"I must've made a mistake then. I meant to say I am allergic to them," she said snidely.

"Kelly cut it out," Fin said and I could hear the anger in her voice too.

"You know what?" I said, taking a step towards her, a little threateningly, and I was kind of surprised at myself. My whole body felt like it was buzzing with pent up rage and frustration, and I suddenly realised this was how I felt when I was about to hit that kook at the office. I wasn't a violent person, but Kelly just made me so mad. How could she just do that to Zeus? He was an innocent kitten. I get that she didn't like me, but she shouldn't take it out on him. I looked her dead in the eye, "You said last night that you weren't allergic. You didn't raise any objections when I specifically said he would be staying with me. You are not a very nice person."

She glared at me, outraged and also took a step towards me, so now we were both invading each other's personal space. My body tensed, like it would if I was expecting someone to hit me, like I was about to get in a fight. I'd never been in a fight before and adrenaline rushed through my body, spurring me on to slap her, to do something, to be ready if she attempted to hurt me. My hands clenched into fists again and I brought them to my sides. It was kind of scary to think that in situations like these, when the fight or flight response kicked in, I'd choose to fight. I must subconsciously want to be beaten up because there was no way someone as small as me could win a fight.

"How dare you!" she spat at me, her face getting close to mine as she sneered at me.

"How dare I?" Cold and anger leaked through my words and my top lip lifted up in disgust. "How _dare_ I?"

My legs tensed, like I was getting ready to lunge at her. And I saw her do the same thing.

"Okay!" Ty was suddenly there, "That's enough." His arms wrapped around my waist, lifting me up and spinning me around, to his other side, away from Kelly. I glared over his shoulder at Kelly, seeing that Ripper had done the same thing to her that Ty had to me. Strangely, I felt calm, with the adrenaline and rage thumping just under my skin, rushing through my veins. I wasn't so far gone into it this time like I had with the kook at the office, and I liked to think I was learning to control it. I would have believed I was controlling my anger if I wasn't imagining pushing past Ty and charging at her, slapping her across the face. It was on thing to be angry at me, but it was another to take it out on the kitten. By saying Zeus couldn't stay here, she was saying he was going to die. If Zeus couldn't stay here, he'd have nowhere else to go except back to the pound where he'd be putdown. Which I obviously wasn't going to let happen.

"Hey," Ty said, moving his head to the side to block my death glare at Kelly, so I would have to look at him. "You don't want to do that."

"Do what?" I managed to get out, past my clenched teeth that didn't want to unclench.

"Hit her," Ty said quietly, so it was like he was talking only to me. How did he know what I did or didn't want to do? I looked up and hated how calming his eyes were. I wanted to stay angry.

"How would you know?" I could feel myself straining to remain still, to not lung past him at Kelly. Who totally deserved a slap right then.

"Because I know you," he said simply, just as quiet as before and my eyes snapped back up to his oceanic ones. A little of the anger leaked out of my body. Not a lot, but some. "You're not violent. Deep down, you know that you don't really want to hurt her, either."

My jaw twitched and damn it, I knew he was right. Damn it. "It'd make me feel better."

"No it wouldn't, and you know it wouldn't. Besides, you're better than that," his voice was somewhat calming too. It was so deep and smooth.

"Maybe," I didn't know about being better than that – I did want to hit her. But he was right, once the anger died down, I would feel so guilty if I did slap her. Even if she did deserve it.

"You are," Ty insisted and then more anger just went away too. The anger was still bubbling just below the surface, but it was more contained, easier to ignore. The immediate urge to slap her slowly went away. I looked over his shoulder to see Ripper talking to Kelly too.

"Hey Kelly," I called to her and her eyes snapped up to meet mine. Surprisingly, her anger was still there. "If you're allergic to cats, take medication for it. Deal with it, Zeus is staying."

Her lips lifted into an unflattering half-scowl, half –snarl and she turned and walked off. This time I didn't follow her.

"Feel better?" Ty asked and I could hear him smiling.

"You know, I hate it when people are right about things I want to do, especially when they're right about me not actually wanting to do the thing I want to do, which, I suppose I don't actually want to do. If that makes sense," I muttered.

He chuckled and I didn't even realise I was frowning until it went away at his laughter. "You're talking in circles, but I understand what you mean."

I sighed and walked back towards the sofa. Zeus jumped out of the box and padded over to me, rubbing his small body against my legs. I picked him up carefully, aware I hadn't taken him out of the box yet and I wasn't sure how he'd take it. He purred, rubbing his head against my neck and I giggled. He made me feel better and his small paw pressed against my cheek as his dark blue eyes watched me. He was a smart cat.

"Wow, I thought you were really going to hit her," Emma said, watching my movements like I was going to suddenly take off after Kelly and actually hit her this time.

"Cow deserved it. I was just about to slap her too," Fin growled and I smiled gratefully at her.

"I knew you wouldn't actually hit her," Lo trilled. "I mean, she was asking for it, but you're too nice to actually hit her."

"I don't know, I felt like I was going to," I muttered, trying to move my head away as Zeus chased my mouth with his nose.

"Wow, Sheila, didn't think you'd have it in you," Ripper mused. "Impressive."

I let out a half-hysterical, half-strangled short burst of irrational laughter. "Impressive. Yeah, right." Ripper shrugged, watching me and I suddenly felt too many eyes on me, watching my movements. "So, I think I'll show Zeus to our room," I said to Lo, Emma and Fin.

"Okay," Fin shrugged.

"Yeah, you can go now brother," Lo said.

'Lo!" I admonished, astonished at her rudeness, and to her own brother. He just drove me across a long distance to pick up a kitten, and she was dismissing him.

"It's okay. She's always like this. Sometimes she gets it into her head that she's the queen and can dismiss people from her presence when it suits her," Ty said dryly, rolling his eyes at his sister, who just shrugged in reply. "But I should be going now anyway. I have things to do."

"Like what?" I frowned, before feeling invasive. It was none of my business.

"This and that," Ty muttered and I suddenly remembered he probably had a date to get ready for. I walked forward and my foot caught on one of the plastic bags with the kitten food. I fell forward, not able to hold my arms out to brace myself because I was still holding Zeus. I squeezed my eyes shut, but then arms grabbed me, righting me up. Ty always seemed to be in the right place at the right time to help me out.

"Steady on, sheila," Ripper said and I opened my eyes, surprised, to see it was Ripper who had steadied me, not Ty. I just assumed it was him. His hands gripped my arms even after I was standing still and not moving. "You'll hurt yourself," he grinned.

"Thanks," I smiled. "I swear, I think I'm accident prone. If there's something on the floor, it most definitely wants to trip me."

"Can't have that now, can we?" Ripper asked, moving the plastic bags out of my way. He made me feel younger, like he was looking after me. Like a brother.

"Are you okay?" Ty asked, though when I looked up at him sheepishly, he wasn't looking at me. He was glaring at Ripper. His jaw was clenched, like it was when he got angry. My sheepish expression immediately dropped and I stared at him, confused, before turning to Ripper who had a slight frown on his face as he stared back at Ty.

"Um, fine," I whispered, though I doubt Ty heard my reply. What was wrong with him? I squinted at them and turned to Lo who rolled her eyes before looking down at her nails. Fin had an amused expression on her face as she leaned back in the chair where I had been sitting before. Emma, thankfully, looked just as confused as I did.

"Are you guys okay?" she asked timidly.

"Fine," Ty said, though he didn't sound fine.

"Fine," Ripper repeated Ty's answer, his eyes flicking over to Emma, then to me before returning back to Ty. "You want to hit up the office later then, mate?" he asked. Could anyone else hear the faint trace of a challenge in his care-free, easy-going voice?

"Sure," Ty said, like he was accepting a challenge.

Lo let out a dramatic sigh and heaved herself up, "Has anyone else had enough of swimming in all this testosterone?" she walked to the stairs and Fin followed her.

"Are you going to pee on her next?" She asked, rolling her eyes.

"Wait, what?" I asked, confused. "That's disgusting, what are you talking about?" They just shared an annoyed, exasperated glance, shrugging and shaking their heads, before continuing up the stairs. "Hey, wait, what are you talking about? Who's going to pee on whom?" I persisted, going to follow them up. "Lo? Fin?"

I remembered the bags and headed back down the steps, "Emma?" I tried but she just shrugged at me, confused too. "At least I'm not the only one in the dark here."

I gathered up the plastic bags in one hand to take up the stairs and Emma offered help, which was good because I felt like Zeus was going to fall out of my arms any moment. I followed her up before turning back to Ty, "Thank you again. Really, thanks. Let me know if there's anything I can do for you."

He nodded at me, "No problem."

"Um, bye, then," I said.

"Bye," he replied again. He hadn't moved from his position before, but his arms were folded and he looked unhappy. His body was still turned towards Ripper and I figured he still wanted to talk to him about something. I bit my lip but continued up the stairs.

As soon as I entered the room, Lo raised her eyebrows at me, "Okay, spill. What happened?"

I couldn't help it, pink coloured my cheeks and I was instantly reminded of the kiss, but I pretended that I wasn't blushing and totally giving it away. "What do you mean, Lo?" Emma asked.

"She means about Ty and Ripper just then, right?" I asked, a little forcefully, staring pointedly at Lo. "I'm not sure what just happened with them."

"Right, just then. Oh, okay," Lo said, catching on to what I meant, for which I was grateful.

"I'm starving," I said, interjecting and unsubtely changing the subject. Though, I was hungry.

"Snack Shak?" Fin offered and I nodded.

I placed Zeus down on my bed. He stood there uncertainly for a moment before padding over to my pillow and sinking down on it, curling up and purring softly. His large dark eyes blinked at me. "Okay, Zeus, this is your new home for a while. I'm going to put your food and water bowls over here, okay?" I ask him, pulling out the bowls and food I'd bought him today. The bowls had little fish painted on them. When I tipped out the biscuits his head snapped up and I grinned. He got up and siddled over to the bowl. Emma came back with a water bottle, pouring it into the other bowl.

"I read somewhere that you need to keep cats inside while they become adjusted to their new environments, so we should keep the door closed all the time and not let him out until I slowly introduce this place to him," I said, scratching his head as he rustled about in the biscuit bowl.

"Okay," Emma nodded.

"And his litter will have to be in here until I can move it somewhere else as well," I said quickly.

"Oh, gross!" Lo wrinkled her nose up.

"Sorry," I grinned, pulling out the litter and tray.

"He had better be toilet trained," Lo muttered.

"Can we go for lunch now?" Fin said, gripping her stomach as it rumbled.

'Yeah, okay," I said. A worry frown furrowed my brows as I watched Zeus. "Um, maybe I shouldn't leave him just yet," I said nervously. "I don't know how he'll take it."

"But I'm starving!" Fin complained.

"How about you and Emma go and get the food and Nereida and I will stay here with Zeus," Lo said.

Oh no. It's not a good idea to be left alone with Lo when she's already partly on to me. "Okay," Emma jumped up from her spot beside me. I grimaced. This was not going to go well. But we handed them some money and they left. When we heard them on the path below, Lo turned to me.

"Well?"

"Well what?" I asked innocently.

"Don't play dumb with me, I know something went down, now you'd better tell me what it was," she said.

"How could you possibly know if something 'went down'," I used finger bunnies to quote her, "when you weren't even there?"

"Puh-leeze. What do you take me for? An ameatur?" Lo waited expectantly.

"What are you talking about?"

"Body language, you oblivious girl! Body language tells you everything, and your body language told me something happened," She said, exasperated.

"I don't believe you," I said stubbornly.

"I'm an expert in reading body language between guys and girls. Want to know what your's and my brothers says?" her nose wrinkled a little here before she continued on, not waiting to see if I wanted to know or not. "'Hot for each other'."

Again I blushed and boy was I over it. It was a dead give away. "I don't know what you're talking about," I insisted.

She let out an annoyed sigh and she flopped back on her bed before sitting back up again, "You're so frustrastingly stubborn! You turn your whole body towards him when you smile or talk to him. He makes contact with your skin. You're both aware of each other all the time."

"Look, Lo," I started, but she interrupted.

"I could wait until Fin and Emma get back and we could all gang up on you," Lo said, looking at her nails like it wasn't a big deal. But she knew it was and she was playing me right now.

"Fine!" I shouted and Zeus jumped, startled. I lowered my voice, "We kissed. He kissed me. Are you happy now?"

"Kissed?" she frowned. "Ew."

"Lo," I groaned.

"Sorry, sorry. He kissed you?" she said, already knowing the answer but wanting to get it straight in her head.

"Yeah, but it wasn't like that. It's not because he wanted to. He was just helping me out," I mutter.

"Helping you? What, were you choking on an ice cube or something and the only way to get it out was to shove his tongue down your throat?" She asked, incredulous. "You are so clueless. A guy only kisses a girl if he wants to, you idiot."

I shook my head at her before telling her the whole story, from arriving at the shopping centre to leaving it. She listened patiently, nodding and not interrupting. When I finished, I felt marginally better, not realising until just then how much I wanted someone else to know.

"Hhmmm," Lo said when I was done.

"'Hhmmm'? That's all you're going to say after I tell you I kissed your brother?" I asked.

"I'm thinking. Give me a second here, okay?" She replied calmly. I waited, rolling my eyes. "You're sort of adorably clueless."

"About?"

"About this kind of stuff."

"Whatever. Lo, I don't know what to do. Do I tell Emma? She texted me and asked if I could talk to Ty and see what he thought of her. If I tell her, she's going to hate me," I whispered. Zeus finished eating some biscuits, took a quick drink and plopped onto my lap.

"I don't think you're giving her enough credit here," Lo mused. "But she will probably be angry for a while. What did Ty say about her?"

"He said she was nice enough," I replied dismally.

"Emma's too shy for him to pay attention to her. You're shy too, but this time he noticed. I think he likes you," Lo frowned.

"Did you not just hear what I said? He wants to forget about the kiss. He wanted a way out," I sighed.

"Oh. _Oh_. You're not asking my advice about how to ask him out are you?" she said, like she only just figured it out. "You're asking my advice on what you should do about Emma."

"Duh," I said. "That's what I've been saying."

"Stop being so selfless," she snapped. "You're making the rest of us look bad."

"I'm not!" I near shouted. "It's okay for you, you've had friends probably your whole life. I moved around so often that I haven't had any close friends. God, I didn't even know what it was like until I met you three, and I don't want to stuff that up! I don't want to ruin a friendship with Emma over a guy who I probably won't even see after this summer."

"Get over it. Friends fight all the time," she said bluntly. "Look, I get it, but if you keep denying this kind of thing, you'll only end up making things worse for yourself and Emma or you'll end up resenting her."

"Lo," I started, not sure of anything.

"You want my advice? As much as this grosses me out, I think you should kiss Ty again. _You_ kiss _him_ this time. Take it from there," she seemed pleased with her advice until I burst out laughing.

"You're kidding, right?"

"No," she pouted.

"Oh. I don't want to ruin my friendship with Ty by kissing him either, Lo. If I did that, it would only make things awkward. I mean, he wanted to forget the first kiss happened."

"_You_ think," she said. "I think you'd be surprised."

"Because you're psychic and know everything, right?" I rolled my eyes.

"Don't be ridiculous. But I do know my brother," she replied.

"I'm not going to kiss your brother," I said adamantly.

"Fine," she said.

"And I'm not going to tell Emma yet either, so you had better not say anything," I told her.

"Fine," she said again.

"Okay then," I said.

"But," Lo said and I sighed, "I don't think Emma is right for Ty anyway."

"Oh, God, don't say stuff like that. I already feel so guilty about all of this! About not telling her I maybe like the same guy she's crushing on, about kissing that same guy, about not telling her any of it, and now you want me to discuss how incompatible she is with Ty. Count me out of this conversation," I shook my head at her.

"I'm just calling it like I see it," Lo said. "Emma's too excitable for Ty."

"Stop it," I said.

"I'm not saying that's a bad thing. I'm just saying it's not really a trait Ty goes for in a girl."

"Lo, seriously," I said.

"Okay, okay. I just think she'd be a good match for Johnny."

"You really can't shut up, can you?" I said incredulously.

"Nope. Seriously though, don't you see how perfect Johnny and Emma would be?"

"Go ahead, enlighten me, seeing as you have it all planned out," I told her, over trying to get her to shut up.

"He worships her and she's oblivious and sweet enough not to take advantage of that," Lo said.

"That is true," I begrudged her.

"I know. Want to know who I think is perfect for Ty?" she asked. I winced. No, I did not want to know. "You."

"Don't, Lo," I said. I didn't want her to say anything because all she'd end up doing was getting my hopes up.

"I'm serious. He gets this light in his eyes when he looks at you. He smiles more," She said simply.

"Lo, I'm not listening to you anymore. You're an unreliable source," I told her, looking down to see Zeus was asleep.

"How am I unreliable?" she gaped at me.

"You're completely biased. You can't be objective about this," I explained. "In the words of my favourite detective, 'you're twisting facts to suit theories, not theories to suit facts'."

"Whatever," she muttered. "I'm just saying, I think you should trust me on this."

"Trust you on what?" Fin asked, walking into our room carrying paper bags. Emma followed closely behind her.

"Trust me that yellow isn't her colour. It's too bright and it washes her skin out," Lo said smoothly and I nodded.

"Whatever, we have food and I'm starved," Fin said, practically throwing our food at us before sitting down and rummaging in her bag like she hadn't been fed in a year.

"Don't your parents feed you at home?" I asked, watching her stuff some fries into her mouth with a horrified but fascinated look on my face. Like a car crash; it's horrifying but you can't look away no matter how much you want to.

"Haha," she said around a mouthful of fries. "You're so funny."

"I'm going to get a fork for my salad, you guys want anything while I'm there?" Emma asked.

"Could you grab me a fork too?" Lo asked, watching Fin with disgust.

"What?" Fin said, not swallowing her food first when she saw the look on Lo's face. "I'm hungry."

"You're such a pig," she said. She watched Emma walk out the door before turning back to her. "Nereida kissed Ty."

"Lo!" I shouted.

"No way!" Fin smirked around her fries. I groaned in embarrassment. "What was it like?"

"We are not talking about this now," I stressed, anxiously watching the door for Emma.

"Fine. But we will discuss this," Fin pointed a fry at me.

"Oh, God," I groaned.

"But first, eat," Fin said as Emma wandered back in. I didn't feel so hungry right then, my stomach was twisting itself into knots. But then I opened the bag, caught a whiff of deep fried food that guaranteed some sort of heart attack and my stomach let out a loud growl.

I'd worry about this later.

* * *

><p><strong>So, what did you think?<strong>

**Thanks goes to SUPAfast JeLLyFisH who was nice enough to help me get things straight in my head. I appreciate your help!**


	16. Chapter 16

Now was the time to worry. Emma's questioning gaze settled on me as we hurriedly got ready for work. Lo and Fin were still at the beach, dangerously pushing it if they wanted to get to work on time, and Emma was taking this time to ask about what Ty had said about her.

The way I saw it, I had three options;

Option 1 – lie. Lie through my teeth; exaggerate what Ty had said and make her happy and not let on I had kissed him, that I even liked him. And then watch as she smiled happily and continued to chase a guy who I wasn't even sure liked her as anything more than a friend. Then I'd be jealous if anything did happen between them and I'd feel guilty about lying, especially if Ty didn't show any particular interest in her after I lied and said he likes her.

Who was I kidding? This option sucked.

Option 2 – tell the truth. Tell her everything; liking the same guy she likes and not telling her, kissing that guy and not telling her, how that guy didn't appear to harbour any special interest in her, but I was terrible at reading people, so I was more than likely wrong. I'd tell her how it killed me to think of him with another girl, even one as nice and sweet as Emma, how jealously flared in me. How I enjoyed his company, just being in his presence, how I felt like I could tell him anything, and I never had to be anyone but myself with him. How he had the ability to calm me, even when I didn't want to be calm, how he understood me when I talked in circles. How, when he smiled, it felt like I was standing too close to the sun; it was so warm, and bright that I practically melted. How he was my personal sun, my personal sun god; Apollo incarnate. And then watch as Emma's face crumpled, as she got upset and angry at me, rightfully, and she didn't want to be my friend anymore.

Who was I kidding? This option sucked too.

Which left option 3.

Option 3 – half lie, half tell the truth. Really, this was the only reasonable option. I wouldn't even really be lying, I'd simply be forgetting to tell her certain, inconsequential details, like how I liked Ty too. I'd tell her exactly what he said about her, exactly what she asks, and nothing more. Technically it wasn't lying. Okay, so it was a lie by omission, but she'd never ask specifically if I liked Ty, so why should I ruin her day by telling her more than she asked? That's right. I shouldn't.

Option 3 also sucked, but it sucked less than option 1 and 2.

"Well?" Emma asked nervously. "What did he say?"

I bit my lip, making up my mind. Option 3 it was. God, I was going to rot in the pits of Tartarus for eternity. "He said you were nice," I said gently, because honestly, anything would have been better than 'nice'.

"Nice?" she said, eyebrows knitting together in disappointment and hurt. "That's it?"

God, I felt bad. I wish she'd never asked me. "But, you know, I'm not very good at reading people, so maybe nice meant more than nice and I just didn't catch on." Okay, we were heading into option 1 territory here. He seemed absolute in the fact that Emma was nice, and he'd just left it at that. He didn't use any other words to describe her. Now that I think about, he didn't give me much to work with, so really, it was his fault that Emma was upset, not mine.

Great, now I'm trying to convince myself it's not my fault, when it is. I was lying to her. How could you possibly be a good friend if you kept things from each other? I was a crappy friend.

"When has nice ever meant more than nice?" she asked dismally, sighing and looking out the window to see Lo and Fin walking along the trail in the distance.

"Well, he smiled when he said nice?" I offered up. "Maybe that's an indicator?"

"And maybe we're just over thinking this. Maybe he just doesn't like me as anything more than a friend. I'm going to go to work now, I don't really feel like talking to anyone. Thanks Nereida," she said, walking out.

"Emma, I – " what was I going to say? 'I'm sorry'? Yeah, because what she really wants right now is pity. This sucks. I sat on my bed and Zeus padded over to me, placing his head on my thigh, his dark blue eyes staring at me. "I know," I sighed. "I should have told her the truth. It was the perfect opportunity."

"What was the perfect opportunity?" Fin asked, walking into the room, pulling her rashie over her head and heading for her closet.

"Nothing," I said.

"Whatever, where's Emma?"

"Left already," I gestured in the direction of the hotel.

"She didn't wait?" Lo asked, almost scandalised.

"She doesn't want to talk to anyone right now. She's upset. It's my fault. I should have said something about Ty, but I chickened out. Again." I flopped back and stared at the dirty ceiling.

"About that. What was it like?" Fin asked.

"What was what like?" I sighed, annoyed.

"Kissing Ty. What type of a kisser was he?" she grilled.

"There are types?"

"Duh," Lo said, like this was obvious. "The salamander kisser, the biter, the no-tongue kisser, the ADD kisser – "

"Lo, I didn't understand half of that!" I said, shaking my head. "Besides that, it's your brother we're talking about!" I attempted to gross her out, and change the subject. I shouldn't talk about it like this; it was like I was leaving Emma out. She was walking by herself right now and she didn't have a clue that I liked and kissed the guy she liked.

"Ugh, don't say that! Right now, I'm pretending we're talking about Ryan Reynolds," she said, brushing out her hair. That made me giggle a little.

"Ryan Reynolds?" I giggled.

"Yeah," she said dreamily. Like brother like sister.

"Excuse me, but you know you're letting her change the subject, right?" Fin said to Lo.

"Oh, you're right! She almost got me, too," Lo said, half way between impressed and annoyed. I glared at Fin.

"So…?" Fin prodded.

"I don't know! We weren't kissing for very long anyway," I said sulkily, stubbornly stroking Zeus' head.

"Was it good? Sloppy? Too much tongue? Not enough? Was it hot? Did he hold your face? Come on, Nereida, spill!" She fired off in quick succession.

"It was…good," I smiled, remembering how his lips felt on mine, the ghost of his smell swimming in my nose, his body pressed against mine.

"Good? That's it? That's all?" Fin asked incredulously.

"No, that's not all," I said defensively. "It was perfect. He was perfect. It wasn't sloppy, it was…kind of warm. It made me feel warm, I mean. It was soft, and not at all awkward until afterwards. He made me want to keep kissing him, without stopping. He made me forget about breathing. And when his tongue ran along my bottom lip, I thought I was going to lose it. Happy now?"

"Almost. Where did he put his hands?" she asked and I blushed slightly, finally realising we were talking about my first kiss.

"One was on my back, just above my butt, pulling me against him, and the other was on my neck, sort of cradling my head," pink coloured my cheeks. Just remembering it had a warm feeling spreading in my chest, all the way to my fingers and toes.

"Wow, what a kiss," Fin grinned at me, knowing it'd make me blush harder.

"Stop it," I said.

"Stop what?" she asked innocently.

"Stop teasing me," I insisted.

"I'm not teasing you," she said, in a patronising tone.

"You know, I didn't realise it was an actual kiss. When you told me what happened, I thought you meant a peck on the lips or something small like that," Lo said, considering this and trying not to look grossed out. "I can't believe you really kissed him like that!"

"Stop it both of you," I snapped.

"You kissed him," Lo giggled.

"And you kissed him big," Fin grinned.

"And he's already in a relationship with someone else!" Lo burst out laughing, though I didn't see why this was so funny. And then I froze.

"Oh my god. I kissed someone else's boyfriend. Oh my god. He cheated on her with me!" I panicked and they stopped laughing.

"I thought you said it was just a kiss?"

"It was just a kiss right?" Fin asked.

"Of course, but he's already in a relationship. He shouldn't have kissed me. I shouldn't have let him. This is so wrong!" I'd realised he had a girlfriend, but I never really put it in that way until Lo said it like that. "This is so morally wrong. What if he tells her? What if he doesn't? Should I tell her? Jesus Christ, I messed up. I feel sick, does anyone else feel sick?"

"Okay, you're just working yourself up. It's not that complicated, really," Lo attempted and I glared at her.

"Not that complicated? That girl trusted Ty. How can he possibly have an open and honest relationship with her unless he tells her? And if he tells her, which he probably would because he's so good, then that girl is going to hate me, because I helped!"

Yeah, I was a hypocrite – I couldn't tell if I was talking about Ty and his girlfriend, or Emma and me.

"We need to get to work, like right now," Fin said, shepherding us out the door and down to the path as I tried to breathe properly.

Good lord, I felt terrible. What if I saw that girl and told her what happened and Ty hadn't? What if Ty told her and she saw me and confronted me? I'd deserve it, for sure, but I hated confrontations. Things were less complicated when I only had to worry about whether or not I was going to tell Emma.

When we entered the locker room, Emma was already changed into her uniform, fixing her hair and I bit my lip, quickly grabbing my uniform and changing. When I came back out, Lo was complaining.

"I hate this job!" she said. "Do you see what the humidity in the staff house is doing to my hair?"

I glanced over at her, supressing a laugh. After her and Fin had come back from surfing, her hair had dried and the humidity had increased, shaping her hair into what I now thought looked vaguely like Broseph's afro. It had looked like that the whole walk from the staff house to the restaurant, but I hadn't paid that much attention, too wrapped up in my own thoughts. I guess she only just got a look at herself in a mirror.

"Oh, yeah, for a minute, I thought you were going for the caveman look," Fin smirked, crossing her arms over her chest.

Lo looked horrified, "Fin, this is serious!"

"Chill out, it's not that big of a deal," Fin rolled her eyes at the same time Reef walked past.

"Sup, bride of Frankenstein," he grinned. Lo just looked annoyed.

"Attention staff, people, we've got a code red," a loud, crackly voice said and we spun around to see Bummer holding a megaphone even though we were only a couple meters from him and could hear him perfectly. "I've just received word that a very very very _very_ important person is staying at the hotel this weekend, none other than the one, the only, _Mr Stanley Stevens_!"

Well, at least I wasn't the only one who'd never heard of him, judging from the varying degrees of blankness from the others.

"Stanley Stevens, editor and chief of Luxury Hotel Magazine? AKA, the world's toughest travel critic?" when he got not even a glimmer of realisation or recognition, he sighed, like we were his own personal torment. "His review will make or break this place. If we get a ten out of ten, it will put this place on the map, and me in line for a major promotion! Therefore I order all of you to give Mr Stevens the absolute best this establishment has to offer; the finest food, the silkiest sheets, a pristine pool and a room in the royal suite!"

"That's the best room in the hotel, after daddy's penthouse," Lo informed us.

"For the next 48 hours, we are in VVVVVIP mode – there will be no slacking off. If you're not on duty, then you're helping someone who is, and anyone who messes this up from me will be looking at a big fat strike!" he said warningly. "Any questions?"

"Can me and Broseph get the weekend off to catch a seriously sick wave?" Reef asked and I just shook my head. Honestly, was he not paying attention to anything Bummer had just been saying? Of course he wasn't going to get the weekend off!

"Fat chance punk!" he shouted through the megaphone and I stifled a giggle as they both groaned. "Now, people, let's get prepped!"

I honestly had no idea what he was saying. I assume he meant prepared for the important guest. Emma, Lo and I shuffled off to the DR, and were immediately set to work. Emma and Lo were to set the table for Mr Stevens and label it as reserved, and I was sent into the kitchen to help the cook cut up vegetables for meals. The cook was an unhappy looking man, with a balding head, though the hair that was supposed to have been on his head looked like it had migrated to his chest from what I could see peeking above his buttoned, uniformed shirt.

He took cooking very seriously and everything had to be cut just right, how he wants it, or you'd end up with a long yelling at and be on the receiving end of scathing glares for the rest of the night. He had the puffiest lips I'd ever seen on anyone, and when he was angry, his face went a deep purple colour that reminded me of a beetroot. But when he was pleased with your work you'd earn a smile, though forced and fleeting, a smile nonetheless.

Methodically, I sliced the vegetables he told me too, grateful I had something to do that required enough focus as to not let my mind wander onto other, unappealing topics and risk cutting off a finger. Time passed quickly when I was concentrating, and I manage to earn one of those fleeting smiles when he saw how perfect my cucumber slices were and a dissatisfied and disgruntled sigh when he saw how uneven my lemon quarters were.

The only time my attention wavered was when a news reading caught my eye from the small, old, box television up in the corner of the kitchen. The knife paused mid-slice.

"…_Next, on when nature attacks_," the elderly, well-groomed presenter said, his back ram-rod straight. I bit my lip to refrain from saying how gendered it was for news readers to be male. This was part of the reason I rarely watched television; women were completely underrepresented, not to mention completely misrepresented. True, female misrepresentation was now much better than it was, but women still had less power in non-literary forms of media. "_Tropical storm Tom, with powerful winds reaching…surfers are rushing up the coast for a once in a lifetime shot at the Big Wave!"_

I groaned out loud, getting another glare from the cook as he mimed cutting vegetables faster, looking pointedly at his watch. I went back to cutting, but my mind was elsewhere now. I would be lucky if I didn't lose a finger. But the biggest waves of my time were just outside, growing bigger still, and I was stuck in here, with only vegetables and an irritated cook for company.

"All junior staff, report to the beach, Mr Stevens needs people to beat at volleyball," a voice I was beginning to associate with dread called over the loud speaker and I bid my vegetables goodbye. Outside was better than being in the kitchen; this way, I'd at least see the ocean and big waves. Besides, I could use some fresh air to clear my mind and help me think.

I hurried to the locker room to change into my bikini (a spare set should always be kept handy, you never know when you'll be able to fit in a quick sesh), sharing an eye roll with Fin and a disgruntled sigh with Emma. On the beach, Bummer had already set up the net, and Mr Stevens was waiting. His skin looked like it hadn't seen the sun in a while; it was a pasty colour, and his hair was cut just above the shoulder, falling in a slight, dirty brown wave.

It didn't take long to figure out that it would have been better to just stay in the kitchen and pretend I hadn't heard the announcement. Lo, Fin and Emma and Johnny were on one side, Reef, Mr Stevens and myself on the other. I pretty much didn't move the entire game, pretending Mr Stevens was just too quick, getting to the ball before I could. At least I wasn't on the other side and have to pretend I sucked at volleyball. The game felt like it was moving at a snail's pace; like Cronus was purposefully slowing time down just so I'd have to endure more of this pitiful game. The only upside was that I didn't have to talk to anyone (read: Emma), about anything (read: Ty).

Mr Stevens jumped forward, hitting the ball over the net. The ball landed on Lo's head and she didn't even move to hit it, probably wanting to end this game as soon as possible, too.

"Darn," she said, her voice becoming a monotone, like a bad actor rehearsing his lines. "You win again, Mr Stevens."

"You're the volleyball master," Reef added, going a little too far in my opinion.

"Oh," he said, like he was too humble or modest to accept our praise. "Thanks. Well, I never knew I had it in me. I could go for a swim."

"Right this way sir," Lo said and I was grateful she'd taken one for the team. A second later, Reef ran off. I shrugged at Fin, who was frowning as she watched him run off.

The rest of the weekend went pretty much the same way. A lot of sucking up and buttkissery. The next morning I went to the kitchen again before heading to the beach for another mind-numbing game of volleyball before heading back to the DR. The only good thing was that everyone was so exhausted by the time we got back to the staff house, we pretty much went straight to sleep.

Which meant I could think without interruption. That is, if I could keep my eyes open long enough to even think.

When my lunch break rolled around, I went to the normal beach and just sat there, watching the waves. Okay, so maybe I was avoiding Emma. But I had to figure out what to do about this.

Suddenly, a hand waved right in front of my face and I yelped, flinging myself back, laying back on the sand. Ty's head blocked the sun from shining in my eyes as I looked up at him.

"Sorry," he grinned, "I tried calling out to you, but you weren't paying attention."

I hated how I could just lie here and look up at him all day.

I shook my head to clear away the muddling thoughts, "I was just thinking."

"About what?" he sat down beside me and I sat up right.

Tell the truth or tell a lie? I hated how I was being forced into situations like this where I had to decide between telling the truth or lying. "Nothing in particular."

"How's Zeus?" he asked, his oceanic eyes focusing on me, like I had his full attention and nothing short of the apocalypse could make him look away. Why did he have to be so damn nice and genuine? Everything would be easier he was rude and obnoxious.

"Good. Getting used to the staff house, though he doesn't like being locked up in my room by himself for most of the day.

"I could swing by and check on him during the day if you want?" he offered.

I wanted to cry out in frustration. Why? Why did he have to be so perfect? Why did he have to dangle his perfect-ness in front of me? "That's nice of you."

He shrugged like it was no big deal, "I don't mind."

I snapped, my tenuous control slipping away and I stood abruptly, "I have to get back to work."

"But you haven't even gone for a surf yet," he frowned, confused.

"Have…have you been watching me?"

He shifted, his cheeks tinting the lightest shade of pink, though it could have been from the sun. "I…"

"It doesn't matter," I shrugged it off, "I have to get to work. Now."

"Wait," he jolted up, running the couple steps to keep pace with my hurried walk. "Did I do something wrong? Did I say something to upset you?"

"What would you do if I said yes?"

"I'd apologise," he said simply, "Before begging you to forgive me and taking you to diner to convince you I can do better, to make it up to you," he said charmingly.

I almost shouted, "I just need you to stop being so damn nice to me!"

"What?" he looked flabbergasted, "I…what's wrong?"

"Nothing!"

"Nothing? It doesn't sound like nothing!"

"Well it is!"

"Wait," he grabbed my wrist, jerking me around to face him. He peered at my face, "Whatever I did, I'm sorry!"

I sighed exasperatedly, "That's just it; you didn't do anything! Nothing to make me upset, to hurt my feelings! You're so nice! You're perfect! And I just need you to stop."

"This…feels like a trick," he said slowly, his eyes confused and incredulous.

"It's not. Just, I need to…Look. You're nice. You're _so_ nice, and I appreciate it, but you're making things very complicated for me right now."

"Just tell me what it is and I'll stop!" he was the frustrated one now!

"You can't! it's you!"

"You're talking in circles!"

"I just…"

He dropped my arm and took a step back, his eyes clouding over, like the sea during a storm, "You don't want to be…friends anymore." He stated it calmly.

"Yes. No! no, I didn't mean it like that! I meant - ," I tried desperately to explain.

"It's okay Nereida. I understand." Even when he thought someone didn't want to be friends with him, even after everything he did for them, he was still calm, still understanding. I almost wanted him to yell. He turned and started to walk away.

"Ty! Wait!" He didn't stop. "That's not what I meant!"

I wanted to run after him, but I was late for work, and the way Bummer was right now, I think he'd fire me on the spot for arriving late.

For a second, I watched him walk away. "It's not what I want," I whispered.

Then I turned and headed back to the hotel.

**Hey,**

**I'm so sorry it's taken so long to update! I just got seriously stuck on this, and found it easier to write for my other stories than this, so I just put it off and off until I realised it's been forever since I've updated. Sorry!**

**So, I'm going to start doing replies to reviews at the end of the chapter, so here goes;**

**Fantasyblast: **Thanks so much, I'm glad you found it interesting! Sorry it took so long to update! Thanks for reviewing!

**Mylie.V: **I'm so sorry it's been so long! I'm glad you like this story so much (and We Are Stronger Together (which I'm going to delete soon, sorry!), and I'm sorry you've had to re-read the chapter while you wait for this update!) Thank you so much for reviewing, though, it means so much to me!

**TC: **Thank you so much, I'm glad you like it, and I'm sorry it's taken so long to update! I hope you enjoyed this chapter too!

**Angel2u:** I think I might have PM'ed you about this, but I can't be sure, so I'll just say it again; if you're interested in reading some chapters from Ty's POV, I can definitely look at writing some! Thanks for reviewing! :D

**xxTheChocoholic14xx: **Thanks so much! I'm glad you liked my story and were looking for an update, though it's taken me forever! I hope you liked this chapter, and thanks so much for taking the time to review!

**Melodiaudrey: **Thanks so much, I'm glad you like my story! I know, it stresses me slightly when I write it too, because they just have no idea they like each other, and Nereida's way too shy to come out and say "Hey, I like you, can we go out?". Thanks so much for taking the time to review! It means a lot to me, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter too!

**Guest: **Hahaha, well, I'm glad you're hooked, though I apologise for taking forever to actually update! Thanks so much for taking the time to review, though! It's really sweet of you!

**Guest: **Sorry it took so long! I hope you liked it though, and thanks for reviewing!

**Guest: **Haha, I'm really thinking I should try to be more consistent with my update! Thanks so much for taking the time to review! I hope you enjoyed it!

**Guest: **OMG! I loved Divergent too! It was really good, and Tris was so awesome! I'm glad you like Nereida! Aw, thank you! You're too sweet to say this is your fave OC fic! But thank you nonetheless, and thanks for taking the time to review!

**miss . twilightprincess: **Hey stranger, thanks so much for reviewing this story, and my New Kids in Town story! It's really nice of you! And I'm glad you like this story too and are interested in reading more! And I'm glad you like Nereida! Thanks so much for taking the time to review!

**Thanks so much for the support, guys! and to those who favourited and followed, thanks so much!**


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